Magdéleine Ferru
justmagd.com
Pukmina, Passeuse d’Âmes
2021
15 cyanotype, with pencil coloring & inkjet print, on canson paper, in a leporelo
6 x 6 x 1 closed, 6 x 53 open
Artist Statement
After studying photography in Montreal (Quebec), I traveled the world, breathing in other langages, lifestyle and traditions. Influenced by different kind of art, I realised that I needed to add matter to my photographic reflection. I went back to the darkroom, learned alternative process and took book binding and book sculpture workshop.
From there I felt free to explore, imagine, and create my own style. Artist’s books have since been an important part of my practice.
In Inuit mythology Pukimna—or Pinga (“the one from above”)—is the guardian of the caribou hordes, goddess of fertility and medicine. She also plays a funerary role accompanying the soul of the deceased to Adlivun (life after death). The antler adorning the heads of caribou evoke a tree which roots would be in the skull of the animal, making the latter a “Tree of Life” allowing communication between the worlds of below and of above.
I like using cyanotype for its timeless and mysterious side. The vagueness of the where and when, territory and time frame, gives a path to dreams and wanderings, to another reality that everyone can reinterpret in their own way. For this project blending different technics reinforce the dreamlike side of the legend.
Pukmina is an artist’s book, leporello, composed of 15 photos of cyanotype over inkjet print, on canson recycled paper and with pencil coloring.
(6x6in closed, and 6x53in fully opened)