Esther Hoareau’s wide-ranging practice encompasses film, photography and installation as well as composition and performance. Natural environments, from the verdant and volcanic terrain of Réunion Island to the outer reaches of space, form the principal subject of investigation for the artist. Yet the resulting works are no ordinary landscapes. Juxtaposing real and artificial elements, Hoareau creates territories that are imbued with wonder and vitality as well as apprehension. These are otherworldly, incongruous places, at once subterranean and extraterrestrial. They draw the viewer in but impose a barrier to their full apprehension or easy consumption. Her works merge the phantasmagorical and the mundane, refuting preconceptions and recasting our surroundings in a new light.

Alexandra McIntosh, 2024.