OSL series: In conversation – Ragna Bley & Filipa Ramos

On the occasion of Ragna Bley's exhibition "Serrated Tongues" at OSL Contemporary in November 2021, the artist and writer Filipa Ramos were in conversation about the topics and obsessions that traversed this new body of work, Bley's recollections of her time in French Polynesia, their mutual love for literature and what the future will bring...

SERRATED TONGUES

“His father found a space for their Peugeot next to a giant cactus, its serrated tongues sticking out in every direction.
‘A neo-Roman villa decorated by a disciple of Gauguin’s syphilitic twilight,’ said his father. ‘What more could one ask?’”…[1]

We left them at the bay
Purple ochre glazed
We needed to get back, escape
The escape that had been this place
could no longer function
had lost its use
as time removes the bright light
the inducing smells
presenting oneself like for a new lover, being new
“I lost the excitement of myself” you said
staring down through the surface of the ocean, on the sandy bottom, looking like it could be reached just by lowering your hand
but the light turquoise clarity is highly deceiving.
I felt you were beside the point, your grief of (over) yourself—petty but true
“The truth is overrated,” I said, and heard how untrue that was.
You had layered your skin with others’ skin, left much of yourself behind
The trees bending shadowing the white beaches
mark-making in the sand
“You stole something” I said
“It is all about proportion” you said, visibly tired, slowly feeling the effect
of the increasing swells at sea.