“It is the shades of grey that give these art works a lightness. Hopeful is the meaning Ariëns adds to the power of the colour grey.”
Barbara Collé
Essay for Sirocco Journal Nº3, 2025
On Chantal Elisabeth Ariëns’ Where are you
“The colour grey has many interpretations in art history, but one meaning that keeps recurring is the unifying power it has. After all, grey represents nuance and is the opposite of black and white. The colour helps artists show what happens in the transitions from one to the other. According to Vincent van Gogh, grey has the ability to evoke warmth, excitement and creativity. For Agnes Martin, grey is the colour that can reach into the most basic relationship between a person and the landscape. Concepts like creativity, warmth and connection that have no image become visible and thus tangible through shades of grey. That which we cannot grasp but can experience, such as a memory, we can represent with grey par excellence.”
Please read the full essay on the Sirocco Journal website and/or order the Journal here.
Thank you dear Chantal and Luke for this beautiful Collaboration.
“Grey exudes the feeling of ultimate safety, like that feathery feeling that embraces you as you lie on your back in the sea and are carried through the water.”