An Invisible Presence
I am convinced that a universal energy connects all things. Its invisible presence has accompanied me since childhood. Through the twenty years I have spent teaching yoga, I have learned to recognize it through the body’s listening. My art is entirely absorbed in living this state of consciousness.
My intention is to connect the body to its emotional experiences. To achieve this, the silent presence of my being is the unique substance, the essential tool of my work. Each time, I refine this connection by performing actions that are as close as possible to who I am. I must also be able to break through my narcissistic shell and abandon any “act of heroism” in order to return to the greater Self. It is this balance of consciousness that I invite others to discover.
In my performances, as in my exhibitions, the audience is at the very heart of the work, for my practice is rooted in the art of ritual, offering people the space they need to experience a pure intimacy with themselves. My pieces exist through the response they evoke.
I believe in change through transformation, by seeing what has been learned from new perspectives, and I hope one day to transcend its limits, whatever the field of expression.
Isabelle Derigo is a performance artist born in Geneva, Switzerland. Her deep engagement with the creative process has led her to work across multiple media and a wide range of materials.
During her travels in the United States, India, and Australia, Isabelle explored soul cultures and experimental art, ultimately developing a distinctive artistic vocabulary that weaves her long-standing yoga practice into a conceptual structure in its own right.
Between 2008 and 2011, she collaborated with photographer Thomas Dorn to create The Yoke, five series of photographic performances exploring the theme of consciousness, which found their full expression in the narrative performance of an artist’s book.
This manifesto, along with her treatise on Driftism published in 2021, pushes the boundaries of what art can be.
Isabelle has participated in several Art Fairs, including numerous appearances in Puls'Art at Le Mans, France, in 2018 and 2019. Her flagship work, The Yoke, has been widely exhibited since 2012 from the Art Fair FotoFever in Brussels to Foto Freo Art Fair in Perth, Australia.
Her artworks are part of a number of collections including that of the Fonds International d'Art Actuel, (FIAA), in Le Mans. Isabelle has contributed to numerous publications in Switzerland and abroad. She was registered on the Artsy art platform in 2020.
Solo Exhibitions & Performances
2021 Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all..., exhibition, Town Hall of Syros, Greece.
2020 Sexy Plexy kai Plastiki, exhibition, Plastico Gallery, Syros, Greece.
2019 Iconic Mantra, with Salvatore Cultrera, Performance Piece, LIF festival, Greece.
2018 Alive Memory, Performance Piece, LIF festival, Sikinos, Greece.
2016 Yantra a Fragmented Totality, exhibition-performance, GalleryAndata Ritorno Geneva, Switzerland.
2016 Moi-Ghost, exhibition-performance, Gallery Kugler, Geneva, Switzerland.
2016 Out Loud, performance, Unwrap the present, Bern, Switzerland.
2015-2016 Taste Your Taste, five dinner-performances on the five sens, Geneva, Switzerland.
2015 Kill Me Inside, exhibition-performance, Gallery Espace L, Geneva. Switzerland.
2014 Moi-Femme… Moi-Peau, exhibition-performance, Orisa Studio, Geneva, Switzerland.
2014 Exit, performance, Emergency 2, Art center Kugler, Geneva, Switzerland
2013 The Yoke, exhibition, Corbel Gallery, Paris, France.
2012 The Yoke, exhibition, Walter Keller Gallery , Zurich, Switzerland.
2012 Mandala My Love, exhibition, L’Horloge Gallery , Geneva, Switzerland.
2011 The Yoke, exhibition, Corbel Gallery, Paris, France
Group Shows
2019 Breathe In...Breathe Out, video, Alive in the Universe, Caroline Wiseman, The Art House Aldeburgh, off Biennale Venice, Italy.
2017 Catchrecycled, installation, Ferme Sarasin, Grand-Saconnex, Switzerland.
2014 Exit, performance, gallery B, Betton- Rennes, France.
2014 Respirez Verre, installation, Arte Fact, Satigny, Switzerland.
2012 An Organized Chaos: Mondrian and the Flower of Life, La Mansarde Gallery , Veyrier, Switzerland.
2011 The Yoke, as part of PURE, Bailly Contemporary Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland.
2010 Mandalas et Moi, La Primaire Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland.
Art Fairs
2020 SWISSARTEXPO, Zurich, Switzerland.
2018-2019 Puls'Art, le Mans, France.
2012 The Yoke, FOTOFEVER, Brussels, Belgium.
2012 The Yoke, FotoFreo, Perth, Australia.
Collections
2019 Collection Lucien Ruimy at FIAA, Fonds International d'Art Actuel, Le Mans, France.
2017 Private Collection of contemporary art David Brolliet, Geneva, Switzerland.
2014 Private Collection of contemporary art Robert Fehlman, Geneva, Switzerland.
2012 Private Collection of contemporary art Noga Rappaport, Geneva, Switzerland.
