Water Territories engages with ephemerality through an intimate collaboration with water—a medium in constant motion and transformation. Born from daily walking meditations along the Rondout Creek, on the ancestral territories of the Lenape people, the work is both a meditation and a recognition of the land's original stewards. It captures fleeting reflections, shifting tides, transient gestures of light, and the subtle changes in water brought on by temperature and season—moments that vanish as quickly as they appear. Water becomes both vessel and mirror, revealing fragments of human consciousness—memories, emotions, and ancestral presence—that rise to the surface and dissolve. Through abstract imagery, the project embraces the impermanence of form and thought, inviting viewers to witness the beauty of what cannot be held. Each image is a meditation on change, a visual echo of how landscape, identity, and presence are continuously reshaped by time, rhythm, and encounter.
©2025 Maria Fernanda Hubeaut. All Rights Reserved.
Water Territories: Spirit of Shatemuc Triptych ( Rondout, Kingston 2024)
By Maria Fernanda Hubeaut
These three images form a visual triptych—an intimate unity that evokes the Lenape cosmovision and their reverence for the Hudson River, which they call Shatemuc, "the river that flows both ways." As part of the Water Territories series, this work embodies the river’s dual movement and living presence. Through fluid shapes, ephemeral reflections, and the play of light, the photographs open a perceptual and spiritual space where water becomes both mirror and memory.
This series offers a quiet homage to ancestral knowledge, honoring the Lenape understanding of water not only as a physical force but as a sentient being—a guide, a spirit, and a keeper of stories. Together, these three images create a contemplative narrative that invites viewers to witness the sacred in the ever-shifting nature of water.
