Les Indes noires

Inspired by invisible worlds and underground cities, this series of drawings revisits the idea of coalmines. We say that the ground’s landscape is drawn by what lies in its basement, however it is rarely considered. Invisible to the naked eye, we often tend to forget that many tunnel networks were dug for mining and still are.

As genuine parallel worlds, they cover distances and areas comparable to those of larger cities. Mapping was gradually mastered to give an account of many of this ensemble and thus showing that we are able to navigate there.

Each drawing is built from a mining networks’ cross-sectional plan and floor plan playing on different scale levels. The horizon is the only element to locate us. Each subterranean landscape helps to escape and get lost away in our imagination.

The title was inspired by the eponym novel by Jules Verne.