“The nights bring back the memories that our days strive to forget.” In “La grande maison” (2018-2023), Natalie Malisse investigates the psychogeographical territories of memory fragments that haunt personal recurring nightmares. Photographs and texts track the silent shadows and invisible wounds of childhood in the paternal home as the house becomes a mental space that spans beyond its walls. The pictures denounce intrafamily violence that hides behind appearances and the silence that surrounds it : “The words of children are like a breath, whispering of violence lurking behind the walls.”
Natalie Malisse
Natalie Malisse (b. 1998) is a Belgian photographer based in Brussels. She graduated from ESA “Le 75” (BE) and holds a master’s degree from KASK, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent (BE).
Through image and text, her practice explores the vulnerabilities and layers that shape our identities, navigating traumatic memory, mental health, disability, and gender inequalities.
Malisse is the recipient of the residency awarded by the Friends of the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Saint-Étienne Métropole (MAMC+). Her work has been exhibited in Belgium and France, including at the Photography Museum in Charleroi, Festival OFF Arles, Circulation(s) Festival, the Centre Photographique Hôtel Fontfreyde, and Prix Médiatine. Her pictures will be presented in 2026 at FOMU (BE), Cultuurcentrum Hasselt (BE), and the Biennale de la Photographie de Mulhouse (FR).
"La grande maison", published by les éditions du Caïd, is her first book.
