Anthropomorphic Interventions in the Landscape by Estelle Chrétrien Playfully Examine Rural Life
“Land Operation” (2016-2020). All photos © Estelle Chrétrien, shared with permission
For artist Estelle Chrétrien, the expansive lawns, fields, and wooded ravines round her house in Nancy, France and different components of Europe develop into websites of mischievous blended media interventions. Via a playful method she refers to as gauillant, akin to the sensation of taking part in within the mud or leaping in puddles, the works develop by probability encounters with the panorama and objects inside it. Displayed in an “open-air” exhibition type, her items could be encountered by viewers in an identical means, with the potential to shock and delight.
Chrétrien is especially occupied with rural and pure locations, and examines the best way we work together with these environments by an typically humorous or ironic anthropomorphizing of her environment. Naturally occurring kinds and textures present inspiration for short-term installations like “Dessous” (“Beneath”) wherein a tree with a double trunk, adorned with some outsized underpants, transforms right into a pair of lengthy legs jutting out of the bottom. In “Opération Terrestre” (“Land Operation”) the manicured garden of a stately house has obtained a wound in want of stitches.
The method of studying the way to assemble or manipulate completely different mediums is a vital a part of her method. From crocheting industrial twine round a hay bale to repurposing a door into the form of an enormous key fob, she enjoys experimenting with unassuming supplies in sudden places. She is presently making ready for a brand new open-air mission in France this summer season, and you will discover extra of her initiatives on her website and Instagram.
“Dessous” (2020)
“Land Operation” (2016-2020)
“Les pieds au sec” (2015-2020), in collaboration with Miguel Costa
“Ficelle Agricole Bleue” (2014)
“Dessous” (2020). Picture by Miguel Costa
“Propriété” (2021)
“Colonne” (2020)
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