DURING CONFINEMENT, THE ILLUSTRATOR WROTE A MEMOIR FOR HER STUDIES, SHE TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THIS PERIOD TO SLOW DOWN, YET SHE PRODUCED A FEW SERIES OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
1. KE-CHAN
THE PROJECT FEATURES KE-CHAN, A « HUMAN PHONE » THAT PLAYS THE ROLE
OF THE IDEAL BOYFRIEND AND HANDYMAN : THE ILLUSTRATOR DENOUNCES
THE GROWING DEPENDENCE ON OUR DEVICES : PHONES, LIKE HUMANS, ARE BECOMING ESSENTIAL, INSEPARABLE AS IF THEY WERE COMPANIONS.
IT HIGHLIGHTS ALL THE MEANS OF CONNECTION, INCLUDING NETWORKS, WHICH ULTIMATELY ISOLATE MORE THAN THEY CONNECT : HUMOROUSLY, WE FOLLOW KE- CHAN’S VARIOUS ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS.
THE PROJECT IS WRITTEN IN JAPANESE : KE-CHAN, AFFECTIONATE NICKNAME, AFFECTIONATELY GIVEN BY YOUNG WOMEN, HAS A MEANING SINCE THE « KE » COMES FROM « KETTAI » WHICH MEANS « CELL PHONE », IN JAPANESE.
ALTHOUGH THE WORD IS LESS AND LESS USED TODAY AND REPLACED BY « SUMAHO », SMARTPHONE, SHE USES THE WORD FOR HER RESEMBLANCE TO KEN, BARBIE’S BOYFRIEND. SHE DOESN’T THINK OF THE DOLL ITSELF, BUT OF THE IDEAL BOYFRIEND FIGURE IT REPRESENTS.
IN THE JAPANESE LANGUAGE, HONORIFIC SUFFIXES LIKE “KUN” OR “SAN” ARE PLACED AT THE END OF NAMES : WE CAN THINK OF THEM AS EQUIVALENTS OF
“SIR”, “MADAME” ETC,: THEY ALLOW TO GIVE INDICATIONS ON THE NATURE OF THE RELATIONSHIP THAT WE HAVE WITH OUR INTERLOCUTOR, THE HIERARCHY AS WELL AS THE LEVEL OF POLITENESS WITH WHICH WE MUST ADDRESS THE PERSON.
« CHAN » IS OFTEN USED WHEN ADDRESSING CHILDREN, YOUNG WOMEN WITH WHOM ONE IS CLOSE OR WITHIN A COUPLE, IN THE PROJECT, « CHAN » REAFFIRMS THE INTIMACY AND AFFECTION BETWEEN THE TELEPHONE AND YOUNG WOMEN.
2. LA DANSE
3. CHANT D’AMOUR
WENDY SYLVAIN TELLS A LOVE STORY THAT TAKES PLACE IN A MUSIC ROOM, BETWEEN TWO FLUTE SOUNDS, THE ILLUSTRATOR SINGS ABOUT LOVE AND TALKS ABOUT A THEME THAT INTERESTS HER, MUSIC. THE TITLE MEANS « LOVE SONG » IN FRENCH, SHE ACCOMPANIES HER ILLUSTRATIONS WITH A TEXT :
YESTERDAY I WANTED TO TELL STORIES ABOUT YOU TO VAMPIRES.
YOU SANG LULLABIES TO THE WHALES AND YOU COULD BARELY HEAR MY SONG.
MY VOICE WAS HOARSE AND ECHOED ALL OVER PARIS.
YOU WERE LISTENING A LULLABY THAT MY SOUL COULD BARELY HEAR.
I WAS CAREFUL NOT TO UPSET IDIOTS, AND YOU,
YOU ONLY THOUGHT OF REVOLTING THE SEABED WITH BEAUTIFUL LULLABIES. »
4. SEX AT THE MUNICIPAL SWIMMING POOL
5. SEX AT BAGUETTE BAKERY
6. WOMEN
THE ILLUSTRATOR WONDERS, « WHAT’S A WOMAN? AND IF SHE FAILS TO BE, WHY
? ». THE QUESTION OF IDENTITY INTERESTS WENDY SYLVAIN AND IS AT THE HEART OF HER WORK. SHE REJECTS HETEROCENTRISM, SEXISM AND ALL FORMS OF SEXUAL OPPRESSION.
SHE WANTS, IN HER WORK, TO GIVE A PLACE TO THESE ERASED IDENTITIES, UNREAD IN SOCIETY.
THE ILLUSTRATOR ALSO TAKES THE OPPORTUNITY TO ASSERT HER POSITION ON FEMINISM, WITHOUT CLAIMING TO SPEAK FOR ALL, SHE WANTS WOMEN, WITH THEIR UNIQUE AND PERSONAL STORIES TO BE ABLE TO TAKE A BREAK IN THE « SAFE » SPACE THAT IS HER WORK.
SHE SAYS ABOUT THE PROJECT :
« WHETHER HIS WOMEN ARE MENOPAUSAL, YOUNG, WHETHER THEY HAVE
NEVER HAD THEIR PERIOD, WHETHER THEY HAVE NO CHEST, WHETHER OR NOT THEY IDENTIFY AS WOMEN, WHETHER THEY ARE BROKE, IN THE CLOSET OR NOT, TALENTED OR NOT, ASSERTIVE, FEARFUL, STRONG, INSOLENT AND BLAH BLAH BLAH, I HOPE THEY CAN FIND KEYS IN MY WORK THAT WILL GIVE THEM COURAGE IN WHAT THEY WANT TO UNDERTAKE AND ON WHO THEY ARE. MAY MY WORK BE A SAFE SPACE FOR THEM.
I OFTEN SPEAK TO WOMEN IN MY WORK, BUT I ALSO WANT TO SPEAK TO ANY GROUP SEEN AS « ATYPICAL » OR « MARGINAL », WHICH LIVES UNDER CRIPPLING EXTERNAL CONSTRAINTS. THEY ARE THE ONES I TALK TO MOST OFTEN IN MY WORK. I DON’T KNOW IF I COULD HELP THEM JUST WITH MY IMAGES AND MY WORDS, BUT AT LEAST I WANT MY WORK TO BE A PLEASANT MOMENT, TO WAKE THEM UP, TO CONSOLE THEM, TO PROVOKE THEM EMOTION, TO ALLOW THEM TO MOVE FORWARD ON A DAILY BASIS. »
7. LIFE STORY
IN HER ILLUSTRATIONS, THE ILLUSTRATION EXPLORES THE RUTHLESS GAME OF DATING APPS, IT ALSO NARRATES A DRUNKEN CAR ACCIDENT AND THE BEHIND THE SCENES OF A PHONE REPAIR. SHE ALSO WRITES TEXTS FOR HER PROJECTS, HERE THE TEXT FOR HER ILLUSTRATION ON DATING APPS :
« THIS SOUND, IS IT YOUR HEARTBEAT OR YOUR PANTS ?
ON THE DATING APP, A TUNA. »
