ROCHETTE

JEAN-MARC ROCHETTE LA DERNIÈRE REINE, Casterman 2022 Original plate no. 229 preparatory stage in India ink and wash. Signed. India ink and graphite on paper 29.6 × 41.8 cm (11.65 × 16.46 in.) Preparatory stage: 29.5 × 40.3 cm The penultimate plate in the album, this scene is highly revealing of the artist's view of the animal world. Neither distant nor anthropomorphic, his drawing captures the bear in its natural habitat, free and solitary. In successive sequences, Rochette approaches the plantigrade until he is staring into its eyes. It's an unsettling experience, as you soon don't know who's looking at whom! The set includes the original plate and its preparatory stage. At the end of the album, I drew several pages based on the same principle and composition, featuring a deer, a fox and a wolf. The wild animals' gaze is neutral, here and now, without affect or existential questions. They may be close to us in many ways, but there's nothing human about them, and it's this truth that I aim to show. J.-M.R.