Tatiana (butterfly) Sculpture, 2017. 79 × 50 × 156 cm. Polyester, wood, polyamide

"Tatiana (Butterfly)" is a life-size sculpture of a seated girl with closed eyes and a butterfly that seems to have just landed on her index finger.

For several years now, Op de Beeck has been creating life-size sculptures of men, women and children, all of which were realised from a monochrome, matte, soft grey, concrete-like material. Each figure, standing or lying down, has closed its eyes. This makes the viewer voyeur, because the image does not look back.

All figures have the name of the model as title, but can be called universal. The artist combines each character with a prop: a handful of blackberries, a bubble with a bubble, a string stretched between the fingers to form a geometric figure, a cigarette, headphones...

With "Tatiana (Butterfly)" that is a butterfly. What these props have in common is that they capture a moment; the moment the butterfly lands, a bubble is blown, a drink of water is drunk, cigarette smoke is blown out...

The smallest, most banal objects thus acquire the status of something wonderful that is frozen in the act. The stone coating of the sculptures refers to Pompeii, where figures were frozen in time in everyday actions. The figures communicate the poetry of the small. Their closed eyes give them something meditative and calming.