Sara Favriau

Sara Favriau’s work has consistently explored our relationship with nature, our relation to it as a sort of other, aiming to respond to the eternal questions that that relationship poses. ‘Une pelouse perçante plus forte qu’un rocher’ (Blades of grass stronger than rocks) combines the films of two collaborative performances which blend the absurd and the  poetic. A tree used as a barge crosses the sea to an island forest and a wooden hut is set on fire in a ritual ceremony. Sara Favriau places the mixing of cultures, mediums, knowledge, arts and sciences at the heart of her practice.

This work evokes the ancient Colombian creation myth that life sprung from a cedar tree. The cedar tree, from which Sara Favriau sculpted the wooden boat, is a divine symbol in many religions, as well as a symbol of resilience. It has been proven to be capable of resisting drought, disease as well as climate change. Setting it alight additionally draws attention to the damage done to the forest floor in the Douglas du Morvan plantations where the wood comes from. The flames also question the impermanence of art, and thus the position of man and his temporality in comparison to the sheer force and permanence of nature. However, the ritual remains one of joy, a celebration of rebirth which gives life to new works, the videos created and the pieces of ash collected. Each stage of the work, sculpture, performance, video, is given new life through another medium. A cycle of commemoration and resurrection animates Favriau’s work which aims to question ideas of permanence and celebrate the cyclical nature of life.