"Our Lady" is a conceptual illustrated book that reflects on how collective memory is in fact a collection of small individual perceptions, then organised in a rational discourse, a narration part of a cultural heritage.
Focusing on the tragic 2019 fire in Paris that burnt down Notre Dame’s roof and spire, the book highlights the cultural Western narration around the cathedral and its surviving in people’s hearts and memories.
Date January 2022
Category Publishing
Institution University of the Arts London
Our Lady
The book is structured in two sections.
The first part is a flip-book that recalls the event of the fire and the destruction of the church. Each page was firstly created by hand using collage and then edited digitally.
The second part is a collection of individual memories on Notre Dame that I have picked from various contexts and illustrated. The cut-outs of the church become bigger every next page until the building gains its original size, symbolising the reconstruction of Notre Dame and the layering of individual memories forming a collective narration.
Photos by Jack Latour Price
