There exist on earth “chimerical creatures” which only a handful of people have been able to observe and which are maybe never to be seen again. We have very little information that allows us to describe them and it is only through the writings and images of these few specialists that we can guess or imagine the form and color of these strange creatures. Sometimes marvelous sometimes monstrous, red, yellow or blue, transparent or luminescent, microscopic or colossal, with wings, claws, jaws, tentacles or gigantic eyes, these creatures carry the elaborate names that men have given them: Vampyroteuthisinfernalis, Enypniasteseximia, Grimpoteuthis, Satyrichthys, Periphyllaperiphylla...
These strange creatures looking like dragons, vampires or snakes live in total obscurity, in a world of darkness which is actually the largest habitat on the planet: that of the deep ocean. With an average depth of 3800 meters, the oceans cover 99 % of the space where life can develop on earth. The number of species inhabiting the deep sea constitutesthe greatest diversity of life forms that have ever existed. Unfortunately, because of direct or indirect human intervention, such as global warming, water pollution and destructive fishing by bottom trawling, these species and their habitats are threatened. These creatures, true mysteries of evolution, that still exist or have existed, are under constant threat of extinction and it is possible that their disappearance is already taking place at the time of writing. Like the legendary beings, they belong to an in-between world, that of the real and the imaginary.
With the artwork Chimerical Creatures, the artist aims to sensitize communities on the abundance of the realm of the abyss and the need to preserve the oceans, by bringing the creatures of the deep sea to the surface of the earth in the form of a work of art. Based on the writings, photographs and scientific videos collected over the past few decades during dive expeditions with submersibles,these underwater creatures are reproduced in the form of sculptures and drawings to populate the world of human beings. Brought to light from the underwater depths to the exhibition space - other than the Museum of Natural History - these beings of darkness few people know about, will be immortalized before the watchful eyes of the visitors. Accompanied by extracts of texts describing fantastic creatures in the literature, mythology and ancient legends across cultures, an interesting parallel is drawn between natural species and imaginary creatures; poetics of the bizarre that aims to provoke confusion, and awaken a sense of wonder and curiosity in the minds of the visitors.
