Domitille Marchiol
She/her
French, 2003
@domitillemrch
Thesis: Spaces That Remain / Les Lieux qui Demeurent
Terranova
‘new earth’
The name of my great-grandmother, whose family had moved from Calabria, Italy.
Writing allowed me to dive into the roots of my inner self. As I intuitively revisited the places where I spent my childhood, how I recalled them, a flood of sensations came rushing back.
The memories were so vivid I could almost touch them.
My graduation project explores how the spaces we grow up in continue to shape our perception of the world. Drawing from both personal memories and historical narratives, I seek to translate memory into a tangible form.
The installation is composed of ceramic tiles assembled into a growing surface. Like a rhizome, it can expand as memories resurface, gradually forming a tactile map of places that continue to inhabit us. Each tile is shaped through repetitive gestures that slowly inscribe memory into the clay.
Closely tied to the ground, ceramic becomes both a carrier of memory and a record of touch. Once fired, these fragments endure beyond the present, preserving traces of lived experience and allowing them to be encountered—and reactivated—by future generations.
