Fish Factory

Marie-France Bourbeau is a visual artist who explores the sculptural possibilities of raw or recovered materials from nature – branches, roots, rocks, shells – which she assembles with elements modelled in clay. Her research focuses on the exploration of territory through the materials that form it, the imprint of the living world on it, and the complex, unsuspected links that weave matter together.

I think of my arrival at the Fish Factory as an apnea dive into a new world, a raw, wild territory that has also become a kind of cocoon (not always very warm in May!), stimulating and creative. The mountains that encircle the fjord accentuate the feeling of being cut off from the world and plunged into a dimension beyond time… In short, I was drawn in by the beauty of the landscape and subjugated by the powerful creative charge of the place. As the days went by, I went around the paths beside the rocky cliffs and coastal reefs. I picked up unusual rocks, branches and shells, and spent hours discovering the Petra Museum’s incredible collection of stones. In the course of my encounters, I also discovered Icelandic beliefs and legends that feature mythical creatures who supposedly inhabit the land. I even began to “perceive” organic forms in the inanimate, a sign of the impact of these legends on me!

I began to explore this mythological universe through ink and pastel drawings, and then, as soon as I could, I started modeling clay in the ceramics studio, an inspiring and luminous place to work. I took great pleasure in making bodies emerge from the clay, as if coming to life from magma. I designed a series of little beings inspired by the Huldufólk – the invisible people that inhabit the territory issued from Icelandic folklore. I integrated rocks and shells into their bodies as traces of the fundamental elements that compose them. Do these unfinished or mutating bodies emerge from the ground or return to it? I’m leaving the question open so that I can continue to explore this narrative thread. For the time being, I see these characters as landscapes in the making, linked to the land where they were born. I’ve called them bodyscapes, in reference to the invisible, inseparable link between the body and the land.

My residency at the Fish Factory has been more than productive: it has opened the door to a complex universe I didn’t suspect existed. In this adventure, I’d particularly like to thank Selma and Mary, with whom I’ve had so many stimulating conversations. Not forgetting Una, for her openness and kindness. She has been an outstanding collaborator, and her experience in glazes has opened up new perspectives for me. My work is now imbued with the richness of Icelandic culture. Thank you and long live Fish Factory for making it possible for me to live this intense creative experience!