The sculptures, perfectly realistic and visible from the river and the bank, are black and appear to be shadows. For the artist, “they play with the idea of a desire for a return to nature and the wild.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"SZE\"](\"https:\/\/www.estuaire.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/SZE.gif\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nIn the hamlets of Bouguenais, Port Lavigne occupies a unique status thanks to its location, deep in the wet prairies. Near the shipyard, a promenade runs alongside the Loire, lined with tall trees (often covered in mistletoe) and paths with luxurious vegetation. Despite its proximity to an airport, Nantes’ ring-road, and ports, Port Lavigne is a vast natural domain. It is precisely this site’s capacity to whisk us away to another time, another era, and another world that attracted Sarah Sze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sarah Sze (1969, Boston) creates works that exist in relation to a landscape or architectural context in which she places her light, aerial sculptures that play with contradictions. Often monumental, her works invite the spectator to stroll and discover new perspectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Settlers, a work that is spread out over the art trail, invites one to explore and to feel the site. Three trees are literally “colonized” by a group of sculptures, creating a series of encounters that are improbable in our part of the world: in one, a bear cub climbs on a tree stump, helped by its mother; in the second, a jaguar lounges about; and, in the last one, a colony of monkeys swing from the third tree. Every animal is portrayed doing something natural: hunting, washing, playing, or sleeping.
The sculptures, perfectly realistic and visible from the river and the bank, are black and appear to be shadows. For the artist, “they play with the idea of a desire for a return to nature and the wild.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n