Sisyphe, l’âne et le rideau

This installation, with its promises of fairy tales and legends, of childlike imagination likewise appreciated, keeps watch over the landscape and the natives of Chosal, while welcoming the walkers when they reach the peak of the Art & Nature path.

Three sculptures, haloed by sharply-arched frameworks, act as doors facing the valley’s landscape. The central one is a donkey’s torso. Like a statue of a Balinese goddess, it welcomes gifts from passers-by. An emblematic resident of the sheltered-employment centre « ESAT » in Chosal, the donkey is sometimes seen as a diabolical and ignorant animal and sometimes as a symbol of devotion and perseverance. Here, while preserving its comical appearance, it is part of the workers’ daily lives. The second sculpture is home to a pile of pebbles patiently gathered from the river below, and painted. This display refers specifically to the myth of Sisyphus who was condemned by the gods to relentlessly push a boulder up to the top of a mountain, where its weight would cause it to tumble down again. It marks the passage of all those who have taken part. Like the small hillocks along the hiking paths, it illustrates the shared effort of this creation carried out in collaboration with the ESAT residents. The third sculpture is suspended from its halo and its moving bands cross our path of vision over the landscape. A ceramic curtain, it assembles the prints left by objects harvested from the surroundings, marking the passage of time. Bright and colourful, my work proclaims itself as inclusive and committed. It aims at involving the observer in a collective decision regarding freedom of expression by presenting an unfamiliar view of the world that surrounds us.

pebbles, oak, glazed ceramic, timber, paint. 11 m x 2.5 m