Plates I-XXXI

Chickadees, squirrels, slugs, field mice, ants, sparrows: so many animals become the protagonists of Lia Darjes’ mysterious tale. Far from frightening, they captivate and charm with their furtive spirit.

In the manner of the Dutch masters who fascinated her, Lia Darjes captures the secret lives of these fierce creatures. Leaving behind the remains of a meal in her garden, or in those of her friends, she entrusts the spectacle to her camera, which she leaves there for a few hours or days, and which, surprised by a movement, triggers the shot. The meeting of staging and chance verges on a documentary study of these beings who live so close to us yet have their own world.

Plates I-XXXI is a silent, colorful series that unmasks curious guests and lifts the veil on the magic of an unexpected reality.