Yolande, a visual artist from Rouen, France, is captivating art enthusiasts with her extraordinary exhibition featuring works created with the world's thinnest paper. Her unique artworks, crafted using Japanese Tengujo paper, are on display in Rouen from November 6 to 22, 2025, showcasing over three decades of artistic research and innovation.

A graduate of fine arts schools in Le Havre, Rouen, and Paris, Yolande has dedicated more than 30 years of her artistic practice to printmaking. Her material of choice is Tengujo paper, which she approaches not merely as a simple medium but as living matter. "This paper, for me, is like skin. It breathes, it vibrates, it preserves the trace of each gesture," she explains about her relationship with this extraordinary material.

The artist's journey with Tengujo began during a visit to the Sennelier art supply store in Paris. "I took it in my hands and I could barely feel it. It moved with the rhythm of my breathing, and it was a revelation," she recalls. Since that transformative moment, she has explored increasingly delicate variations of the paper: starting with 12-gram paper as thin as cigarette paper, then progressing to 9-gram, 6-gram, and currently experimenting with 3.5-gram paper that is almost imperceptible to touch.

The exhibition, titled "Matter of Imprint," is presented at two locations: Uchiwa Gallery and Gawa Ceramic Design. Yolande presents a carefully curated selection of works created over the past five years, representing the culmination of 30 years of research. Eight prints are displayed at each venue, suspended between two glass plates to allow them to "breathe" and maintain their delicate nature.

Working with such fragile material presents unique challenges that have become integral to her artistic process. "Tengujo is both fragile and resistant. Sometimes it tears or remains stuck to the plate that presses it to create the print," Yolande admits. "I accept these accidents; they are part of the process." When she removes the paper from the copper plate used for etching, she describes working "while holding her breath," as if she were lifting a molt or new skin.

Yolande employs the etching technique known as aquatint to create her impressions on the delicate paper. The resulting works, with their transparency, invite viewers to come closer and "feel the texture with their eyes." This is what she calls a haptic gaze—a tactile perception through sight. The interplay between visibility and invisibility creates what Marcel Duchamp called "the infra-thin," a threshold where perception becomes uncertain.

For Yolande, the act of printmaking is deeply meditative. "I practice tai chi and Qi gong," she shares, finding the same level of concentration required in printmaking. "One gesture leads to another. I never know what the final result will be." This philosophy reflects her exploration of the relationship between body and matter, where her papers exist simultaneously as material and immaterial entities.

Recognizing that abstract printmaking can seem intimidating to some viewers, Yolande emphasizes accessibility in art appreciation. "To understand, you just need to slow down and look differently. We touch paper every day without thinking about it. I would like people to rediscover tenderness for these modest materials," she explains. She firmly believes that art is not reserved only for those "who understand it," noting that "in any case, it provokes reactions and people have things to say about it—it creates something."

Currently working between Rouen and Paris, Yolande continues her research at the Bo Halbirk workshop in Montreuil and within the Art Grav association in Rouen. Her prints have already earned recognition and are included in the public collections of the National Library of France and the Paris School of Fine Arts, testament to the significance of her innovative approach to printmaking.

The decision to exhibit at two different sites in Rouen reflects her intention to "create bridges between the arts." On one side, she honors the tradition of Japanese prints, while on the other, she connects with clay—another material that receives imprints during its transformation. This dual presentation reinforces her artistic philosophy of finding connections between different mediums and cultural traditions while pushing the boundaries of what paper can express as an artistic medium.