Rachelle Bussières is a French-Canadian artist based in New York whose practice investigates perception, time, and the natural world. Bussières holds an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and her work has been exhibited across North America and Europe, in countries including the United States, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Turkey. She has also participated in international residencies such as the Banff Centre, Penumbra Foundation, Headlands Center for the Arts, and Silver Art Projects. Her work is included in several public and private collections, among them the Museum of Contemporary Photography (Chicago), Arter Contemporary Art Museum (Istanbul) and the SFMOMA Library. She received second place in the Snider Prize from the Museum of Contemporary Photography and was a finalist for the Aperture Portfolio Prize. She has also received numerous grants from the Canada Council for the Arts. Her work has been presented at major international art fairs, including Paris Photo, The Photography Show by AIPAD, Untitled Miami, Enter Art Fair, and Expo Chicago. In addition, she is the founder of LUMIERE NYC, a platform dedicated to experimental light-based photographic practices.
Her practice offers a sensory and material field of exploration positioned between photography and sculpture. Centering the interaction between nature and humanity, the passage of time, and the fragility of perception, her work integrates both scientific observation and intuitive experience. Childhood memories from the wilderness of northeastern Québec and her experiences living off-grid in Northern California shape her connection to nature’s ancient order. Bussières employs lumen printing – one of photography’s early techniques. In this analog process using light-sensitive silver paper, images form through the direct influence of light, time, and environmental conditions. This method allows her to create surfaces on which the documented atmospheric changes also transforms into a physical experience.