Mélusine Brosse

Nymphosis

Nymphosis is the stage in which the caterpillar encloses itself in a cocoon, transforming into a chrysalis — from which eventually emerges the imago, the winged butterfly we all recognize. I began this series during the COVID lockdowns, a time marked by enforced stillness and isolation. Much like the caterpillar retreating from the world to begin its metamorphosis, I found myself pulled inward — physically confined, yet mentally seeking transformation. Drawing became my way out. A way to push back against the grayness of the present and expand the shrinking space around me. I worked with the most basic tools: a graphite pencil and a sheet of paper roughly the size of my own body. From there, I dove into the subconscious. At my living room table, I gave form to my inner world — pouring out emotion without premeditation, guided only by impulse and feeling. Rage met tenderness, despair gave way to joy, instinct merged with control. I let it all happen. What emerged is a visual landscape of the inner self: weightless, ambiguous, shifting. In these drawings, some details are sharp, others dissolve into blur — shapes appear and disappear, inviting viewers to find their own meanings, to follow their imagination into a space that is both personal and shared. Through this work, I hope to create a space without rules, without judgment — a space of freedom. One where viewers can see through their own prism, and let their minds drift without constraint. A place where perception moves with emotion, and where we are invited to quiet the chatter of the mind long enough to touch the soul — and perhaps, for a brief moment, become the light, winged being we truly are. May our imago rise through nymphosis.