Fanny Boucher Arboris, the roots of the sky

The two-meter high mural features the silhouette of a tree whose top and roots stretch out vertically. Ms. Boucher updates rotogravure, a printing method invented in the late 19th century to create prints on paper from photographs engraved on a copper plate. She combines this complex technique with a poetic, sensitive message celebrating the tree as a universal figure of origins able to unite heaven and earth.

It took 72 rotogravures to create the Arboris pattern. Forty-nine of them are matrices - copper plates traditionally scratched after the print is finished and not exposed. The rest is made up of rotogravures printed on bluish Japanese paper glued to the same matrix used for the reproduction. The printed sheet then comes in contact with the copperplate, whose golden glints can be perceived. This innovation gives the print great visual power, making it a full-fledged art work.

“Ms. Boucher's respect for tradition is total but her path is also experimental, with the will not just to master the technique but go beyond it. The project’s other strong point is its openness to different fields and the awareness of a commonality between disciplines.”