Étendues

About this artwork

When land becomes crowded or danger forces a relocation, the creatures rely on ‘the Étendues’. These vast, gentle creatures are so large that whole villages can settle upon their backs, carving paths and raising homes on living terrain. Their movements are glacial; a single migration might last years, sometimes generations. Yet this is no hindrance to those who dwell upon them. As the Étendues press on, slow and steady as the turning of the seasons, the villagers rebuild their houses atop the creature’s broad back, forming a wandering settlement that shifts as the creature does.