Image: Catherine ArsenaultIn her practice, Catherine Arsenault focuses on phenomena observed in nature at the heart of remote territories. For Nos rivages, she produced dozens of drawings of the St. Lawrence River at various junctions, which she then transposed into animated video. For her, this graphic excursion is an exploration of “our deep, intimate connection with the St. Lawrence River”.
Image after image, we observe the waves and eddies, witnessing the power of water, both majestic and devastating. As the viewpoint we have chosen gives the impression that we’re sailing there ourselves, we find ourselves physically involved, as if we too were at the mercy of the current. The numerous drawings bear witness, on the one hand, to the artist’s gesture and, on the other, to the repetition – like that of the relentless waves – required to produce them. Once transposed into animation, they reveal a dance in which the water’s movements intertwine with her own. The body’s involvement then unfolds on a grander scale in the shape of the coastline, sculpted from paper residue. Waves of graphite wash up on the reconstituted shoreline.