Marie-Paule Bilger : Much more than a resident

She was part of Motoco from the very beginning. She witnessed all its transformations she was always there. Her presence was swirling and singular; she experimented with colors and sounds in her dual, two-sided studio. She was a visual artist-researcher who explored her subjects with scientific precision and constantly renewed imagination.

One year, she installed a ballet barre along the kitchen wall, and residents could join her for entrechats at lunchtime. You could also follow her as she foraged along the water in search of ruderal plants, retracing the site’s history by reading the grasses, with expert botanical knowledge that nourished her entire body of work. From watercolors to photographs, films, and small inventories, up to that “bear’s paw” she posted on Instagram five days ago, the plant world became both shelter and universe. She spoke of her epiphanic encounter with a blooming Prunus cerasifera in the Jardin des Plantes as others speak of the first day of a great friendship.

She painted wars and birds, the sound of blood and couch grass, waters and swimmers. She was movement itself her soul danced. We will not forget you, dear Marie-Paule. Thank you for everything. Our deepest thoughts are with Jean-Jacques and his sons.

Marie-Paule Bilger

(Photo FM in the newspaper L’Alsace)