Sensory Ecosystems

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Based in Montérégie, Ryth Kesselring made a name for herself through interactive installations that combine textiles and soundscapes to explore environmental issues. For example, her gallery shows incorporate monocultures of flax plants impacted by distorted sounds during germination. “This series echoes Western society’s attempts to control the environment and to maximize profitability at the expense of biodiversity,” she explains.

Such a critique of the human stranglehold on nature also underpins her playful yet political Abstractions géographiques (Geographic Abstractions). For these in situ installations, Kesselring stretches threads of linen (a fabric woven from flax) between dozens of trees to create intricate geometric shapes, and an immersive experience in the woods. These works emerged from an inventiveness born of necessity. During the pandemic, Kesselring found herself suddenly isolated, like so many others. “I no longer had a studio, but I did have access to the forest,” she recalls poignantly.

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The illusory and ever-changing nature of her work is what makes it so unique. “These installations are anamorphic: an apparition that comes into view from a specific point, but changes as you move around the work.”

Through such plays with perception, the artist invites her viewers to slow down and embrace complexity. You have to take your time and wander through her Geographic Abstractions to witness the conversation between the linen lines and the seasons.

The natural threads are barely visible in the shade. But when the sun breaks through the canopy, when snow floats down, or when the wind picks up, the work suddenly appears in a new light. “My installations have their own lives,” affirms Kesselring. “There’s magic in a snowflake alighting on a thread and shining for a moment in the winter sun. It’s beautiful, but it doesn’t last. Except sometimes someone was there to see it, to experience it, to hold on to that moment.”

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Such explorations of her installations prompt meaningful exchanges with visitors about our relationship with natural environments and flora. 

Kesselring takes her own partnership with them very seriously: before beginning any of her in situ installations, Kesselring observes the local wildlife for a few days to ensure she won’t disturb their routes. “The forest is my creative partner. Without it, my work would not exist.”

Does the temporary nature of her art ever bother her? On the contrary: “I love the ephemeral,” she says with a smile. From mere threads, she creates striking, large-scale installations only for them to one day disappear and return to the earth. “There’s an interplay to the very tiny becoming something enormous, then breaking down and leaving no trace after rendering its service.”

Letting go, inherent to the practice of land art, becomes a source of solace, as it’s exactly where the magic happens—at the intersection of nature’s agency and artistic expression.

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Go deeper: the Sous la fibre podcast

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We’re thrilled to be partners on the latest episode of the Sous la fibre podcast, which shines a light on artist Ryth Kesselring.

The episode, “Ryth Kesselring : tisser à travers la forêt”, is available now.