Val

Val Le Dourner Ephemeral art in nature.My inspiration comes from nature.Walking leads me to wild and untouched landscapes. It allows me toperceive the atmosphere of places, places which evoke a sensation withinme. A sensation which urges me to stop, to try to capture the globality ofthe moment, to realize an ephemeral print between the earth and the sky.This is an spontaneous encounter.Everything happens in the present, in a temporal space without a preconceivedidea.The creation is purely intuitive. Instinct dictates my gestures.My art is the expression of this encounter between walking, looking and theelements of nature.In a landscape a particular horizon captures my attention and appears likea scenography, a temporary framework in which the earth becomes itsimaginary base and the sky its background.That’s when the stones or other natural elements which I find in situbecome part of the creative process.The installation is either created in a vertical plane by balancing theelements one on top of the other, or by laying them horizontally on theground.Once the stones are installed, and before natural phenomena like wind ortide transform them, I take photos as a way of remembering my originalsensation.Photography is a tool for or a way of immortalizing my ephemeral works innature.It is on one hand the first visual and instant trace of this encounter intime and space but also constitutes a record of all my work through theyears.The creative process happens like a ritual in several stages :Installing, taking photographs, archiving, printing and exhibiting.The original stones scattered on the ground do not belong to me.I use them simply as part of my installation. Afterwards they stay behind,at the mercy of the elements.This intuitive act of piling up stones is both individual and universal,but whilst some build cairns on mountain tops as a permanent structure,mine is a symbolic gesture, a witness to the transcient nature of allthings.Like life, everything is in transition, in perpetual movementV a l L e D o u r n e r1961Born in Combourg - Bretagne - France1979First trip in the North of India, Ladakh and Nepal : discovered Art and Himalayan Buddhist philosophy1980 - 1984Saint-Luc’s School of Art / Brussels - Belgium1982 - 1984First installations in deserted spaces with various recovery materials.Films and photographs are the only traces / Brussels - Belgium1983 -Walks et works in nature made in France, Irlande, Tibet, Turquie, Inde, Népal, Ecosse, Malte, Angleterre,Pays de galles, Suisse, Ouzbékistan, Bolivie, Slovénie, Québec, Sri Lanka, Guernesey, La Réunion.Solo exhibitions1997Art Gallery T.Pommerell / Brussels - BelgiumArt Room J.L. Cacheux / Lille - France1998Les Contemporains Gallery, sculpture in situ and photographs / Brussels - Belgium"Portraits in Lhassa", photographs - "World Artists for Tibet" - Espace Bortier / Brussels - Belgium2002Utopia Gallery -Damme - Belgium2004La Bellone Theatre, photographs / Brussels - BelgiumLa Balsamine Theatre, sculpture in situ and photographs / Brussels - Belgium2005"Exhibition in loft" (private space) / Brussels - Belgium2010Maison du développement durable "Man and Nature" / Louvain-la-Neuve - Belgium2014La part du feu Gallery "Sculpter le temps" / Brussels - Belgium2018"Traces" / Nice - FranceGroup shows1990Parcours d’artistes / Saint-Gilles - Eight photographs, traces of installationsmonochrome silkscreen on canvas, suspended in the form of an octagon / Brussels - Belgium1996Ex-Voto Gallery - Drawing exhibition / Brussels - Belgium"Artistic award 96" / Tournai - Belgium1997Musée en Plein Air du Sart-Tilman « Young sculpture’s prize » / Liège - BelgiumParcours d’artistes / Saint-Gilles " Hamesse Prize 1997"/ Brussels - Belgium2002Parcours d’artistes / Saint-Gilles " Hamesse Prize 2002" / Brussels - Belgium2012"Caviart" Art Center / Virginal - Belgium2015"Expodulac" Sculpture in situ / Corroy-le-Château - Belgium2018Parcours d’artistes "Chambres avec vues", installation in situ and photographs / Namur - BelgiumPublic art projects2002Commune de Watermael-Boitsfort « L'Art à l'air » 21 gardens - 21sculptors /Brussels - Belgium2004Bois de Lauzelle " Biennale of contemporary art " / Louvain la Neuve - Belgium2009Old lime-ovens of Chercq - Installations in situ for the "Mémoires vives" show / Tournai - BelgiumArtist in residency for in situ projects2003Sites en ligne "Symposium international d’intégration en milieu naturel » / Silly - Belgium2017"La fête de mai - Sentiers d'art 2017" /Gesves - Ohey - Belgium2018"La fête de mai - Sentiers d'art 2018" / Havelange - Somme-Leuze- - BelgiumAwards1997Young sculpture’s prize - Communauté Française de Belgique - Musée en Plein Air du Sart-Tilman / LiègeBelgiumOther Practices1988 - 1994Kendo practice under the guidance of Master Hirakawa, Belgian championships (2nd dan)- Kendo Club Yu-hi / Brussels1995 -Tai chi chuan practice, under the guidance of Master Chu King Hung - Wu Ming School / Brussels2001 - 2004Shiatsu training under the guidance of Master Kawada (master degree) - Yo Sei Do Shiatsu Academy / Brussels2003 -Vipassana meditation taught by S.N. Goenka in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin2015 -Karate Shotokai practice under the guidance of Master Harada - Kds Belgium / Brussels