« À l’origine* », this artwork by Fabien Mérelle was a 21 x 28.2 cm drawing.

« This outlet in the form of a drawing representing an elephant – an honourable animal – acting like an acrobat on my vertebrae was just an allegory », says the artist. « The elephant represented the weight I had on my shoulders back then. I was in a complex situation that was far beyond my control.

I was probably trying to convince myself that I was up to the challenge. »

« Pentateuch » – the original title of the artwork – is a religious reference which highlights the challenges the artist and the woman he wanted to marry had to overcome due to the different faiths of their families. Fabien Mérelle wanted to describe in a rather burlesque way the trouble he was in: « I thought of these circus posters trying to sell yet another strongest man in the world, using so many superlatives that it was ridiculous ».

The transition from a drawing to a monumental sculpture is a mise en abyme. « Since the character in the drawing was struggling », it was up to the artist to « carry out... a mammoth project ». Thinking with others also helps taking a step back from the challenges of life, getting away from the solitude of the workshop, to give some life to the pachyderm drawn on paper.

* In the Beginning