1. FARINA
2024
To be published in 2026
Ancient Roman Aqueduct & Windmill Complex
Barbegal, Provence (southern France)
Farīna is a project born from my deep fascination with history, mythology, and the silent presence of the past in forgotten places. Some places exist not only in space, but in memory. Their stones,their air, their shadows hold echoes of lives once lived, of hands that built, of voices long since faded.
For five days, I withdrew from the world, isolating myself within the ruins of the ancient Roman aqueduct and windmill complex in Barbegal, near Arles. Once a thriving center of ingenuity, it is now a place of quiet stillness, where time has softened its edges. As I moved through its remains, I thought not only of what was, but also of what might have been. The people who once stood where I stood, the stories they carried, the rituals, the unspoken moments of their existence now lost in time.
This project is not about recreating the past but about feeling it. Sensing its weight in the air, in the way light touches stone, in the spaces left empty. There is no single way to see Farīna. It is meant to be an invitation rather than an explanation, a space for the viewer’s own imagination to wander. Perhaps you will see history, perhaps myth, perhaps something in between. What remains is not only what was, but what we choose to see.
These images illustrate the process in which I gradually carve away a drawing of Roman deities from antique paper. After removing each part, I placed the paper back in exactly the
same position to mark the passage of time.
I also use this process as a metaphor for both Roman mythology and the industrial site itself. The drawing does not completely disappear; a faint outline remains, similar to the ruins where I documented this process. Just as this historical site endures, the trace remains visible, even as the material fades away.
same position to mark the passage of time.
I also use this process as a metaphor for both Roman mythology and the industrial site itself. The drawing does not completely disappear; a faint outline remains, similar to the ruins where I documented this process. Just as this historical site endures, the trace remains visible, even as the material fades away.
Brad Feuerhelm:
I had not met Jeffrey Torremans before and am still blown away by his skillset. He followed the first day of my prompts by investigating Arles as a historic site. And on day one, he found his muse for the rest of the journey. He photographed a Roman aqueduct for the following days and came away with a body of lucid, deep work that frankly deserves to be a book, even at this stage. He was also able to work on indexing the site while making the work, which you can see in the grid of drawings he made on site, with his moving shadow indicating a sense of time passing. His proficiency in organizing his images made the work super polished when we reviewed it on the second day. I remain deeply impressed. Fortunately, he is heading back to the area in a few weeks. I have encouraged him to continue the exceptional study of the aqueduct.
I had not met Jeffrey Torremans before and am still blown away by his skillset. He followed the first day of my prompts by investigating Arles as a historic site. And on day one, he found his muse for the rest of the journey. He photographed a Roman aqueduct for the following days and came away with a body of lucid, deep work that frankly deserves to be a book, even at this stage. He was also able to work on indexing the site while making the work, which you can see in the grid of drawings he made on site, with his moving shadow indicating a sense of time passing. His proficiency in organizing his images made the work super polished when we reviewed it on the second day. I remain deeply impressed. Fortunately, he is heading back to the area in a few weeks. I have encouraged him to continue the exceptional study of the aqueduct.