Hera Büyüktaşcıyan: Resonant Grounds

Born in Istanbul, Hera Büyüktaşcıyan often works in a site-specific manner, taking time to discover a territory through researching local histories and walking as a method of observing and drawing within space. At the Centre International d’Art et du Paysage (CIAPV), the artist explores dynamics of erasure and regeneration in relation to forestry plantations and the building of hydroelectric dams in the region. Water itself is considered as a powerful, generative force held in check by infrastructure or running freely from springs sought out over centuries for their healing properties. Featuring sculpture, installation, drawing and film, the works on view deconstruct these altered landscapes, surveying surfaces, bodies and foundations that lie between absence and presence, and giving voice to what was lost and what is gained. Büyüktaşcıyan takes a sounding of the territory, revealing sedimented layers of history beyond our perception.

Resonant Grounds is conceived as an exhibition in four chapters. In “Defending Ancient Waters,” the artist evokes the transformative effects of water as it moves through a landscape. Cascading fabric flows within the art centre’s Nave, as if pouring through its arched windows. Adorning the material in geometric compositions are fragments of wood collected from the shoreline of Vassivière Island. Akin to archaeological remnants or a musical score, the fragments suggest the foundations of hamlets engulfed in the construction of hydroelectric dams which, in the case of Vassivière, still lie beneath the surface of the lake. The installation recalls an aqueduct or dam that overflows, carrying debris like accumulated particles of time, and resurfacing what lies within its depths.

“A Rehearsal for Changing Skin” explores the region’s spiritual and ancestral connections to water. Büyüktaşcıyan creates a sculptural ensemble inspired by bonnes fontaines, ancient springs believed to possess miraculous or curative properties. Amorphous forms made of felt and geotextiles are suspended from a linear wooden structure. These layered works, in gradients of earth tones, evoke topographic surfaces or geological strata, as well as the skin or shell of an organism. The use of felt is significant for the artist in its connection to the once ubiquitous presence of sheep and pastoralist traditions in the region, which have vastly diminished over the years as moorlands were planted with fir trees.

A series of graphite frottage drawings entitled Wolves and Sheep (2023) accompanies the installation. Oscillating between organic and constructed forms, the drawings recall the texture of skin, fleece or bark, or the shadowed transparency of an x-ray. In this way, Büyüktaşcıyan retraces the imprint of time upon fragile, perishable bodies and territories, where the unseen carves its way through what is visible.

In “Dendrologia,” curved sections of bark collected from uprooted or diseased trees are suspended in a gentle arc. Mask-like, with furrowed, weathered surfaces, they convey an uncanny resemblance to human and non-human beings. Some bear traces of paint applied by forestry workers to indicate their ailing condition. The artist felt a kinship with these marked trees, their skins discarded, which once stood as silent witnesses of the surrounding landscape and the many lifeforces within. Sound resonates through the space in a polyphony of voices, as if the forest itself becomes vocal.

Lastly, “The World’s Fragile Skin” is a stop-motion video presented in parallel to the exhibition. Shards of pottery and weathered glass move across the floor in a flow of geometric patterns. The fragments were given to the artist by a CIAPV staff member, who collected them among the foundations of settlements on the lakebed of Vassivière. Here, the movement and ephemeral configurations of the shards recall the quotidian rhythms of life in villages that once existed, setting into motion anew what was sedimented and lost beneath the water.

Resonant Grounds aligns visible and invisible histories, constructed environments and human intentions. The exhibition pieces together fragments, composing new constellations of voices that may sing anew out of the silence.

The exhibition is curated by Alexandra McIntosh, director, CIAPV.

Resonant Grounds is co-produced with the Centre de Création Contemporaine Olivier Debré (CCC OD), Tours, which presents a second iteration of the exhibition from March 29, 2024.

About the Centre International d’Art et du Paysage
Unique within the French artistic landscape, the Centre International d’Art et du Paysage on Vassivière Island (CIAPV) is celebrated for its remarkable architecture designed by Aldo Rossi and Xavier Fabre, its open-air permanent collection, and its program of exhibitions, residencies and events exploring contemporary art and landscape. Situated on the Plateau de Millevaches in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the CIAPV is firmly rooted in its rural context while forging links nationally and internationally.

The CIAPV is supported by the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine and the French Ministry of Culture—DRAC Nouvelle-Aquitaine.