Isabelle Hayeur

Having grown up along the shores of a polluted river, Isabelle Hayeur has a deeply personal relationship with water. Several photographic and videographic series bear testament to her concern for the health of water systems. Navigating between the political and the poetic, Hayeur’s lens-based practice offers a portrait of the relationships between humans and aquatic environments, documenting various states of degradation and efforts at conservation. Begun in 2008, the Underworlds series comprises over a hundred large-format photographs, captured by immersing her camera in murky waters. From a partially submerged perspective, the photographs reveal simultaneously what is below and above the waterline — buildings, garbage, abandoned skiffs in a boat cemetery. The juxtaposition of the shallows and the signs of human presence looming over them emphasizes the causes of the anthropogenic catastrophe unfurling below the surface. Counterbalancing these scenes of desolation are images documenting the reproductive cycle of newts in Oregon, mangroves taking root along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, and gentle-natured young manatees, marine mammals that inhabit an equally fragile coastal ecosystem. Oscillating between disillusionment and enchantment, this corpus reveals contrasting aquatic landscapes, some brownish and obviously polluted, others manifesting hopeful signs of aquatic life. After documenting underwater worlds unfolding beneath bleak horizons, Hayeur has recently turned her lens to the consequences of the burgeoning water crisis in North America. Forest fires, drought, and dried-up rivers and reservoirs punctuate a photographic landscape in which the vital importance of water is conveyed through its absence. Omnipresent throughout Hayeur’s body of work, the importance of water also permeates projects devoted to citizen resistance against hydroelectric and natural gas projects that threaten the preservation of Québec’s landscapes and water resources. Once again immersed in her subject, Hayeur observes and documents not only the causes of these protests but also the viewpoints of those attempting to protect these endangered ecosystems. Translated from the French by Louise Ashcroft Originally from Lac-Mégantic, Noémie Fortin is an independent curator, writer and cultural worker based in the Eastern Townships. She and her family live on the traditional and unceded territory of the W8banaki Nation, the Ndakina, where she is involved in artistic, agricultural and community projects and processes focused on caring for living things. Attuned to forms and practices grounded in an ecofeminist approach, her research focuses on ecological art that moves out of the institution to engage directly with territories and communities, particularly in rural areas. Isabelle HayeurAnémone (Oregon), 2018,from the series Underworlds,2008–ongoing.Photo: courtesy of the artist Isabelle HayeurWind Shift, 2014, from the series Underworlds,2008–ongoing. Photo: courtesy of the artist Isabelle HayeurOwens Lake 02 (Californie), Elephant Butte Lake 01 (Nouveau-Mexique), Lake Isabelle 04 (Californie), from the series Déshérence, 2022-2023.Photos: courtesy of the artist Isabelle Hayeur, Noémie Fortin Isabelle Hayeur, Noémie FortinIsabelle Hayeur, Noémie FortinIsabelle Hayeur, Noémie FortinIsabelle Hayeur, Noémie Fortin

Isabelle Hayeur

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