Laetitia Soulier’s photographs, articulated in series, each invite the viewer to journey through different worlds ruled by different paradigms. The Palindromes series follows a binary system, using diptych images where twins wander in symmetrical landscapes. In the Fractal Architectures series, the geometry of the wallpaper and the structure of the decor follow a fractal logic, weaving together microcosm and macrocosm. Soulier’s characters are approximately eight years old. Their minds have reached the critical place between the rational and fantastical. This paradoxical state is represented in Soulier’s methodically composed yet chimerical photographs.
The Fractal Architectures Series
In The Fractal Architectures, photography sets are conceived from the unique point of view of the camera. The hyper-realistic models are built in the toy scale of 1/24 to life size and above, following a fractal logic. Within the interlocked spaces, body parts such as a foot, a thumb or a face appear to reveal the multiple scales incorporated in the model. Young characters unfold within these fractal architectures, which are at once their toy, their home, their childhood, their adulthood, the space between their past and their future. After the photograph is realized each of these miniatures is deconstructed, and only the photograph remain.
Fractal Geometry
The conception of each model begins with a simple geometric figure; the circle for the Matryoshka Dolls, the square for the Square Roots, and the spiral for the Star Shells. These elementary forms repeat at different scales to create an intricate pattern, which weaves together the infinitely small and the infinitely big. This never-ending fractal motif spreads across the wallpaper, and is the basis of the model’s floor plan and interior design.
The Matryoshka Dolls
The first chapter of the Fractal Architectures unfolds the archetype of the circle. The wallpaper for the Matryoshka series is made up of nested dolls woven in a circular dance, each impregnated with this repeating pattern. Similarly in the model, the circular archetype puts everything in rotation; the hardwood floor grows in concentric circles, the doors bend in arches, and the staircase swirls to the higher alcoves. The walls undulate organically, folding and refolding in a womb-like interior where the exterior seems to no longer exist.