BAUMWELTEN ‘The Trace. Epidermal memories of the living’

THE TRACE – SILICON – DOMAINE DE CHAUMONT-SUR-LOIRE
Epidermal Memories of the Living

BAUMWELTEN – TREE WORLDS
ART SEASON 2026

Janine Thüngen-Reichenbach’s work lies at the intersection of sculpture, imprints, and the memory of materials. For over twenty years, the artist has been exploring the subtle forms of the relationship between humans and nature, examining how time affects materials and bodies. She seeks to reveal the elusive invisible and the energies that mysteriously flow through all things.
After working for many years on silicone casts of ancient Roman walls, she used this same technique for her *Treeworld* series to explore her deep, ancient connection with trees, which become like living archives, their bark bearing the marks of time.

This allows viewers to discover the reverse side of the bark’s texture and, in a sense, delve deeply into the history of the trees. The imprints are sewn together and mounted on spheres whose size varies according to the circumference of the trees.
They evoke both strange terrestrial topographies and interplanetary landscapes. Works created from trees along the Via Appia, where the artist lives, were exhibited in Chaumont-sur-Loire, alongside a monumental sphere made from the bark impressions of two giant sequoias found in the historic park of the estate.

The trace—the imprint of the tree—thus bestows eternity upon a fragile conifer threatened by the passage of time. This work, which celebrates the beauty of trees, was therefore perfectly at home both in the historic park and in the “Grange aux Abeilles” at the Chaumont-sur-Loire Center for Arts and Nature.

Chantal Colleu-Dumond