Winding and ambiguous, the Lianes murals draw a blooming path.

Within the plant world climbing varieties are among Riehl’s most enduring fascination. Their dynamism, their ability to adapt to their environment in order to grow, and the feeling of energy they give off as they spread create a feeling of freedom and strength, but also sometimes of vulnerability, as these species are so vigorous that they can feel invasive.

In the various compositions of the Lianes series of wall installations, three elements are repeated to occupy the space on the wall: the trunk, which evolves in unbridled convolutions, the leaves, which spread out to catch the light, and the flowers, which punctuate the whole.

The artist was inspired here by the Jade Creeper, a tropical variety whose clusters of green flowers evoke bird-like silhouettes. She has imagined her own composite species, resolutely ambiguous, leaving the viewer to his or her own judgment. This is the first work in which Riehl has opted for this equivocal hybridization of plant and animal, a process she would later use for the Autoportrait series.