BREATH ME OUT

Breathe Me Out is a monumental painting installation composed of 17 individual panels of equal dimensions but varying depths. The work originated as one continuous, large-scale painting, which JChadima subsequently divided and reconstructed. Individual wooden stretchers were built at different depths, and sections of the original painting were cut, wrapped, and stretched around them. In doing so, a single pictorial plane was transformed into an installation that actively occupies space.

The original composition begins at the upper right and unfolds downward through the 17 panels. Saturated reds give way to translucent whites, while the second and third panels are distinguished by narrow bands of green and gold. Every surface carries a dusting of raw silver pigment, subtly reflecting light and shifting as the viewer moves in relation to the work.

Finely painted lines continue from one panel to the next, preserving traces of the original painting across the spaces between them. As the composition descends, these controlled lines gradually give way to freer, more expressive forms. Together with the varying depths of the panels, this progression breaks the rigidity of the grid and creates a sense of movement that seems to vibrate across the wall.

Originally installed across a monumental, flat-black wall at Alto Restaurant, Denver, the work assumed a commanding architectural presence. The darkness intensified the reds and whites, while the raw silver pigment caught the ambient light. The varying depths of the panels created shifting shadows and a sense of movement, transforming the interior of Alto into an artistic experience of colour, light, surface, depth, and space—and contributing to its character as a special gathering place.

The title, Breathe Me Out, refers to the idea of exhaling—releasing negativity and what has come before, leaving it behind, and moving forward.

In retrospect, Breathe Me Out became an unexpected catalyst for profound change in JChadima’s life—an act of letting go, leaving the past behind, and walking forward into a new life.

Provenance:

CERTIFIED EXPERT 20260910030942  REFERENCE ISNI  2006 02

AKOUN CERTIFIED: 25,000 EUROS

2009 GIFT FROM THE ARTIST

BREATH ME OUT is held in a private collection: Goldfogel (USA).