Marine Simonis & Francesca Vesprini
Marine Simonis
Ces peintures ne racontent pas une histoire bien précise.
Elles évoquent plutôt des sensations qui se produisent lorsque j’immerge mon corps (et ma tête). Des sensations qu’il m’est impossible de retrouver sur Terre.
Tout d’abord, il y a la sensation de liberté. Cette impression d’apesanteur, qui transforme ce qui est impossible sur terre, en possible sous la surface.
Ensuite, une sensation de reconnexion à mes sens. Dans un monde où le surmenage fait loi, j’avais oublié comment ressentir. Arrêter de respirer a ramené la paix dans ma tête, l’eau m’a permis de refaire une avec moi-même.
Ces sensations n’étaient autrefois qu’un rêve. Il a fallu oser plonger sans respirer pour les rendre possibles.
Decompression Rooms (I, II, III)
- Afmetingen: 85cm x 120cm
- Materiaal: acryl en olieverf op Classaens doek
- Prijs per werk: € 2,200
Francesca Vesprini
When I first spoke with Marine Simonis through a video call, she invited me to translate her sensations while diving to give shape to the duality of her emotions.
On one side, there is the weight of expectation: the discipline, the pursuit of performance, the constant pressure to reach the podium. And beneath that, the physical pressure, the silent embrace of the depths, the absence of air.
On the other side lies the surrender, the feeling of water touching the skin, merging with the body, and the luminous awareness of light filtering through. That glowing moment is why Marine began to dive: a call toward serenity. Yet, sometimes, the pressure rises so high that joy itself sinks away.
This duality resonated deeply with my own work. Water has always been my element, a space where bodies dissolve and meanings surface. Diving becomes a metaphor: a quest for depth, a refusal to remain on the surface. But it is also a gentle warning to not descend so far that we lose sight of what surrounds us, or forget that we are part of something vast and shared.
In the three paintings, I translated this journey through framing: in the first, Marine is centred and strong; in the second, she begins to recede; in the third, she dissolves into the wider rhythm of the sea.
Through these images, I painted a wish, to release the numbers, to listen again to the pulse of the water, and, above all, to rise slowly, lightly toward the light.
