Drôme, a winding road twists between the mountains. The slopes glow with the yellow of juniper. Vultures spiral in the sky, and the hum of insects stirs the torpor of summer. At the end of the track, a valley and its village.
“For about ten years now, a collective of farmers has been experimenting with a form of agriculture that remembers the memory of streams and the growl of wolves. Each territory possesses its own psyche, its genius loci, the sum of the elements and presences that compose it. Aware of the principles of symbiosis and mutual aid that govern ecosystems, the collective draws inspiration from these plural solidarities to imagine new relations between the domestic and the wild, the technology and the organic. In the face of the vertigo of coming chaos, the experiment is complex and inventive. It leads us to rethink the stories that have shaped ways of inhabiting the world in our modern societies.
It is fascinating to observe how a gesture as ancient as agriculture can summon enchantment. By weaving an intimate bond with the non-domesticated furred, feathered, and leaves human gestures and thought become hybrid. What then emerges is an invitation to offer our bodies and imaginations to these enigmatic beings. These other living creatures, bearers of their own perception of reality. With the awareness of these multiple realities, our inner landscapes can be reshaped.
For the past three years, I have been settling regularly in the village. Each time, the place enfolds me and invites me to brush against that zone of contact between the self and the inhabited outside. In the meeting of shadows and the less visible, the series Lueurs Fauves seeks the experience of the sensitive. With the help of various photographic tools and trap cameras, I search for the carnal trace of these connections. The alternation of aesthetics, figurative and abstract images, suggests the idea of a relationship between these existences and questions our physical and psychological connection to a territory. Little by little, the narrative creates tension between the apparent and hidden dimensions. The vision is not entirely accurate. Time is suspended, twilight-like.
The image stares back and uses its evocative power to suggest new rituals and perceptions of everyday life. Sometimes, the moment wavers and lets a little wonder slip through.”
— Eve Campestrini.
