Waders are well-known only to fishermen: made from rubber or neoprene, these chest-high boots protect those who go into the water, with a fishing rod in hand. A rather technical and not particularly poetic item, which the artist Stéphanie Cailleau here transforms into a fascinating creature, using wool felt. This very tough material, which is one of the oldest textiles in the world, can in fact withstand up to 2 or three months amongst nature, so much so that it was formerly used for making roofs for yurts… Here, the plastic artist has used it for a mysterious installation, on the boundaries between reality and fable: by extending waders with the aid of felt, she has transformed them into a tree. So on an island in the Hortillonnages seven of her strange creations walk, half human, half plant, hairy or branched, depending on the materials which the artist has decided to incorporate into the wool. One of them even has a zip, allowing the curious walker to glance inside one of these marshland beings…

Humorously, the artist Stéphanie Cailleau often describes herself as a “all terrain felt maker”: the daughter of a farmer, coming to nature as a matter of course, and after studying at the l’École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, she has developed a polymorphic style of work, on  the margins of land art and textile art. Her favourite medium is felt which she uses in situ as close as possible to nature.