Because she was in a foreign land, the artist’s First Nations identity became omnipresent in her artistic research and explorations in 2009 and gave birth to the exhibition Un jour, la mer m'a dit/One Day, the Ocean Told Me. Inspired by her childhood, Nicole Haché developed a modern reflection on our exploitations and the consequences of our behavior on the sea and its resources.
 
She traded her figural style for an abstractionist approach, which became her way of sharing her thoughts on environmental issues. Fragments of marine life transformed in visual harmony reflected the artist’s sensibilities: she integrated elements from the ocean into her works to warn against human excesses.

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This was her aim in concretely and conceptually giving her work a second dimension. Her vibrant colors are still there, but natural elements play a much larger role and are attached to the canvas with linen thread. Pieces of driftwood and shells become the centre of interest in minimalist works by the way they are placed or their unique characteristics. As always, the lack of frames reminds the onlooker of the island where the painter grew up and the feeling of freedom that is a vital part of her soul.

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A wave washes the visual poetry of her thoughts onto the shore...