Émilie Payeur
Émilie Payeur is an interdisciplinary artist and herbalist living in Montreal, Canada. She is particularly fond of working with what is akin to sound, video, modeling clay, clay, found objects, elements from the nature, performance, most often in the context of installations.
She is interested in the notion of the sacred, ritual, dreams and the unconscious, animism, transcendence and altered states of consciousness. By extracting elements from her memories, she seeks to highlight these moments of wonder at the suddenly revealed beauty of an everyday element or experience. She exploits these moments of awakening which reveal a normally inaccessible dimension by allowing us to come into contact with something sacred.
She also works in experimental/noise music, mainly using the no-input technique, but also samples as well as small lo-fi synthesizers and her voice. Lately, she has also started creating pieces to be performed by other people.
Her works are characterized by a Lo-FI/DIY aesthetic that is reminiscent of kids craft. She often uses recycled materials and try to reuse them in different ways for several projects as much as she can.
emiliepayeur.com
A Walking Mind Entering a Psychic Energy Machine-Generator Sometimes Used as a Sanctuary for Shy Snakes
2023
In July 2022, during the time of my residency, I met the snakes of the island. First I was a bit scared (I think they were scared too, judging by the look on their face). But after a couple of unexpected meetings we developed a special kind of relationship, almost mystical. The installation is dedicated to them and they are free to enter and explore the space if they want to. The work also explores my fascination for the unconscious mind. I tried as much as possible to create the different elements freely, in a spontaneous way so that they would come directly from it. I was inspired by what Carl Jung said about the symbolism of snakes: “They are as enigmatic and frightening as the unconscious, so, since time immemorial, man has protected himself against them, as he has done against the unconscious.“