Drawing on the idea of perception as participatory and the body as part of the flesh of the world, my work addresses the senses. Images of incandescent and dripping dwellings not only evoke primeval hungers but also envelop and absorb. My investigations are rooted in Gaston Bachelard’s concept of the intimate immensity, and my interest in biomimicry. I under- stand ecology in the true sense of the word, as in the study of habitation (okologie, from the Greek oikos, house, dwelling place, habitation and logi, study of). I am interested in the nesting instinct, whether it is our domestic, social, or natural environment. How do we root ourselves in a space, a community? How do we create a sense of belonging? How do we define our identities? As the worm slowly creates its habitat by digesting coarse earth into humus, so does the artist turn their life experience into stories and metaphors. My current practice investigates the emerging interest in alternative dwellings such as the hobbit house by Simon Dale. Could it be that in a world of uncertainty we long for intra-uterine architectures? And could this be a manifestation of our subconscious desire to return to the womb or the origins of life?

Nadège Mériau