Upcoming:
Penelope, The Weaving of Fate — dance performance on the beach at Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, as part of the Matrimoine Days, Sunday, September 20 at 3:00 p.m.
Wait, Penelope... — a duo exhibition with Annie Lenoir at Espace Michel Frérot, Thaon, September 25–27, 2026.
The Metamorphoses of Ovid and Apuleius, with the Métamorphoses Association, Bretteville-sur-Odon, 2027.
Abysses, group exhibition with the Dire Autrement collective, La Bouée, Cherbourg, 2027.
Penelope's Waiting
Penelope and BLNK / The between-image
“The Expectation of Penelope” (The Tent of Penelope) is a poetic and collective plastic installation mixing sound texts and textile creations to evoke solitude, femininity, abandonment, precariousness… and attempts to create links. Weaving on a craft is replaced by knitted weaving, which is more nomadic.
The expectation of Penelope was first a theatrical text: the Return of Ulysses, written by Lena h. Coms in 2010.
Then, L'attente de Pénélope became a plastic installation presented for the first time at the Trianon gallery in 2019 during the collective exhibition Mythologies contemporaines with the collective BLNK and L'entre-image curated by artist Baptiste Vanweydeveldt.
shawls, mittens handmade by Lena h. Coms, help with the scenography: Baptiste Vanweydeveldt, sound device: speaker with speaker or headset and mp3.
The scenography is evolving and the works are mixed with the works of other artists (the sublime tattooed seaweed of Hikari Elle or the delicate ceramics of Lydia Steciuk).
Another presentation of L'attente de Pénélope took place (without the tent) during the exhibition 100 Contacts organized by the collective BLNK (and still under the curatorship of Baptiste Vanweydeveldt) at the Centrifugeuz (Caen) in 2021 .
Penelope's Waiting (The Tent of Penelope)
Penelope's Waiting (The Tent of Penelope) is a poetic, collective installation combining spoken texts and handcrafted textiles to evoke solitude, femininity, abandonment, precarity, and the fragile attempts to create human connection. Here, the traditional loom is replaced by knitted weaving — a more nomadic and intimate form of textile making.
Originally, Penelope's Waiting was a theatre text: The Return of Ulysses, written by Léna h. Coms in 2010.
The project later evolved into a visual art installation, first presented at the Trianon Gallery in 2019 as part of the group exhibition Contemporary Mythologies, organized by the BLNK collective and L'Entre-Image, curated by the artist Baptiste Vanweydeveldt.
Hand-knitted shawls and mittens by Léna h. Coms. Scenographic collaboration: Baptiste Vanweydeveldt. Sound installation: loudspeaker or headphones with MP3 playback.
The scenography is conceived as an evolving environment in which the installation intertwines with the works of fellow artists, including Hikari Elle's tattooed seaweed pieces and Lydia Steciuk's delicate ceramics.
A second presentation of Penelope's Waiting took place in 2021 during the exhibition 100 Contacts at La Centrifugeuz (Caen), organized by the BLNK collective and again curated by Baptiste Vanweydeveldt. This version was presented without the tent itself.
For this iteration, the scenography became darker. A painting of Eve — depicted with her body torn open — mingles with balls of yarn and the surviving shawls, suggesting the aftermath of a fire. Within the space, The Cloak of Ulysses' Journey, created by Baptiste Vanweydeveldt, enters into dialogue with Penelope's installation for a second time, extending the conversation between the two mythic figures.
Penelope's Waiting, audio text like an answering machine, text, voice, music and editing: Léna h. Coms, (45 minutes), 2019.
photo credit: BLNK/L'entre-image and Léna h. Coms
Penelope and Bivouac
(Reality Arts / Prébocage-Intercom)
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Penelope's album
(The Arts Lab)
Penelope's Waiting (The Tent of Penelope)
Penelope's Waiting (The Tent of Penelope) is a poetic, collective installation combining spoken texts and handcrafted textiles to evoke solitude, femininity, abandonment, precarity, and the fragile attempts to create human connection. Here, the traditional loom is replaced by knitted weaving — a more nomadic and intimate form of textile making.
Originally, Penelope's Waiting was a theatre text: The Return of Ulysses, written by Léna h. Coms in 2010.
The project later evolved into a visual art installation, first presented at the Trianon Gallery in 2019 as part of the group exhibition Contemporary Mythologies, organized by the BLNK collective and L'Entre-Image, curated by the artist Baptiste Vanweydeveldt.
Hand-knitted shawls and mittens by Léna h. Coms. Scenographic collaboration: Baptiste Vanweydeveldt. Sound installation: loudspeaker or headphones with MP3 playback.
The scenography is conceived as an evolving environment in which the installation intertwines with the works of fellow artists, including Hikari Elle's tattooed seaweed pieces and Lydia Steciuk's delicate ceramics.
A second presentation of Penelope's Waiting took place in 2021 during the exhibition 100 Contacts at La Centrifugeuz (Caen), organized by the BLNK collective and again curated by Baptiste Vanweydeveldt. This version was presented without the tent itself.
For this iteration, the scenography became darker. A painting of Eve — depicted with her body torn open — mingles with balls of yarn and the surviving shawls, suggesting the aftermath of a fire. Within the space, The Cloak of Ulysses' Journey, created by Baptiste Vanweydeveldt, enters into dialogue with Penelope's installation for a second time, extending the conversation between the two mythic figures.
Penelope's Wait (52 minutes)is a plastic, poetic and collective installation exploring myths, loneliness, the feminine and abandonment.
Album produced by Riz'Ω for the plastic installationPenelope's Waitingbased on excerpts fromReturn of Odysseusby Lena h. Comments
selection of excerpts: Léo Lamour, Riz'ohm, Léna h. Comments
with the voices and sounds of:
Elodie Goudé, Malika Labrume; Goulc'han Lemoine;
Clara Leteinturier; Lise Lagnel Lefevre;
Mathilde Le Quang Soulie; Naig Thome
Technical: Hugues Mignotte, Yann Snuss (the Burning Bruissons), Philippe Germaine
Scenography: Léna h. Comments
Textile creations: Julie de Pierrepont, Léna h. Comments
Cover design: Léna h. Comments
Administration: Marine Pinabel
Penelope's yurt:
from Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer toSAY DIFFERENTLY(to the letter)
The tent evolves and becomes a yurt, and more precisely, a bamboo flex-yurt. This yurt was made during a residency open to the public atCent79in Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer in July 2022 with the encrage collective and the artist Hélène Jouie. It must then be presented at the exhibition To the letterwith the collectiveSAY DIFFERENTLYin October 2022.
The yurt is presented both outdoors, on the sand, and indoors in an art space or a church (the Church of the old Saint-Sauveur in Caen). Thus, all spectators become potential Ulysses, or pretenders.
The space is bigger and more adaptable, the structure is adorned with shawls, mittens and old clothes. A loudspeaker discreetly placed under a shawl broadcasts Penelope's album continuously.
photo credit: Hikari Elle and Léna h. Comments
Erdinç Y. (caenstreetphotography) and the artists of the exhibition A la lettre/dire AutRemenT
Penelope is waiting for Odysseus (2022)
The residence atCent79in Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer in July 2022 was also the pretext for taking sea plans for a concept adapted to social networks (Instagram and Tik Tok) broadcast daily for one minute a day (and is translated in addition to fourteen languages in the comments on Instagram):Penelope_attends_2022.
The Return of Odysseus, read by Léna h. Coms, and juxtaposed with shots of the seaside, in the place where Penelope could await the return of Ulysses.
Ulysses' answering machines - Penelope’s phones
Spectators are invited to pick up the phones: one hears the voice mail of Ulysses then the many messages of Penelope or the sound of the sea.
Spectators can also participate in the work by crocheting the yarns made available.
Les répondeurs de Pénélope et Ulysse,
installation plastique, Téléphones, Mp3, textiles (laines et crochets), sellettes, tabourets, dimensions variables, 2023
voix : Léna h. Coms et Jan Sekowski
Traversée 3 - Les filets de Pénélope / Penelope's nets (Nottingham)
Une troisième résidence aura lieu à Nottingham (UK) en novembre 2023.
Nottingham a un passé historique relié à la dentelle mécanique inspirée de la dentelle aux fuseaux ; pour cette résidence axée sur l'écologie et l'art minimaliste, j'ai choisi de pratiquer un travail performatif autour du tricot avec les bras afin d'évoquer les filets de pêche, le tout dans des points de dentelle au tricot. Telle Pénélope (voir la page autour de Traversée 2), j'ai fait et défait mes ouvrages.
La première série en vert évoque la végétation, tandis que la seconde évoque la mer.
Le maillage du tricot ainsi étiré évoque aussi bien la dentelle que le filet de pêche (où Pénélope espère peut-être pêcher prétendantes, prétendants et Ulysse ?) que la toile d'araignée qui vient envahir l'espace et les œuvres des autres artistes.
Tempêtes, texte présenté lors de l'exposition Abysses à la Grange aux Dîmes de Rots avec le collectif Dire Autrement (2025) avec l'œuvre Pénélope dans les Abysses
Pénélope dans les abysses (2026)
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Pénélope dans les abysses, crayon et fusain sur papier 14 feuilles de papier canson comme un puzzle, 2026. installation au sol dans l'église du vieux saint-sauveur de Caen ou au mur dans la grange aux dîmes de Rots.
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