Métamorphoses de sel

Trained as an anthropologist and now member of the artist-run space Atelier W Pantin, sculptor/ceramicist Lise Thiollier (born 1992, lives in Paris, works in Pantin) seeks through her practice to establish relationships between forms, images, and language in order to offer new narratives. At the invitation of La Galerie, centre d’art contemporain de Noisy-le-Sec and alongside curator Alexia Pierre, she presents Métamorphoses de sel [Salt Metamorphoses], her first solo institutional exhibition.

Hers is a research begun in 2022 during a residency in Chile (ISLA/SACO program) and pursued the following year at Antre Peaux in Bourges. Lise Thiollier follows the meanderings of salt and lithium crystals. Lithium is a chemical element used not only in psychiatric medication but also in the fabrication of our cell phone batteries and in industry. For Lise Thiollier, it is the starting point for a reflection on the transformation of matter and resource exploitation and depletion. From the Atacama desert to the kaolin (white clay) mines of the Allier region of France, her research sheds light on fragile ecosystems and underscores a set of conversations and interdisciplinary networks. Crystallized sculptures, immersive structures, sound installations and videos with multiple temporal valences are all ways the artist invites viewers to reflect on invisibility and change—whether physical, chemical or narrative. Envisioned as a place of rest and restoration within La Galerie, the exhibition Métamorphoses de sel offers a shift of state: the chance to slow down in order to hear the salt crystals forming, the birdsong and sounds of the desert, to recharge one’s batteries and open the way for other possibilities.

Métamorphoses de sel has been awarded the Fonds régional pour les talents émergents (FoRTE) prize, financed by the Région Île-de-France, with the support of La Galerie, centre d’art contemporain d’intérêt national de Noisy-le-Sec.