Ariane's work investigates how we situate ourselves within a mechanized society. Her work questions the physical and psychological structures that make up our everyday, ranging from essential building structures, such as the electrical wiring, to the basic conduct of how people communicate and behave.

A simple machine is an elementary device - a lever, wheel and axle, pulley, inclined plane, wedge, or screw - that has a specific movement, which can be combined with other devices and movements to form a machine. A simple dream is not as easily defined. One could start to describe it as a desire to an idyllic state of being, which is subjective. For example, a dream of leading a simple life surrounded by a majestic and idyllic landscape is quite different than a dream of advancing up the social ladder to enjoy the simple pleasures that promise to wait at the top. What is our simple dream? Though hard to describe perhaps the secret lies in simple gestures similar to the specific mechanical movements of a simple machine to get the ball rolling.

The exhibition 'Simple Machines and Simple Dreams' features three new bodies of work - picturesque landscapes, comfort drawing studies, and an installation with soft light sculptures. The Picturesque Landscapes are a humorous demonstration of simple mechanics in an idyllic landscape, employing pulley, gears, etc to insert foreign objects into the great outdoors. The Comfort Studies are still life drawing studies of a decorative throw pillow in locomotion with black chalk on white felt. The main installation consists of three soft sculptures - a chair, a ladder, and an outboard motor. The ladder, sewn out of vinyl tablecloth with each rung illuminated from within, is strung up in space via a pulley system, using a crestfallen soft sculpture of an outboard motor sewn with synthetic crushed rabbit velvet as a counter weight. The chair, also sewn out of a decorative vinyl tablecloth, is installed high on a wall, with the light that's emanating from the seat cushion reflecting on the ceiling. Perhaps one could use the ladder to climb rung by rung to reach the chair at the top...