How do you incorporate both tradition and innovation in your work?
Tradition is by everything that Jean-François Reboul transmitted to me, he enabled me to accomplish something I thought impossible. I did not have training as a ceramist in the traditional sense, but it wasn’t so far removed from what I was exploring with paper – it was brought to life with a new material. It was like an apprenticeship. Also, I use clay which is an ancestral material. For innovation, it’s the challenge I set myself by working with such fragile forms, to make something strong and delicate at the same time.
Why did you decide to work with a larger, monumental scale?
I wanted more magnitude, to work with a greater dimension and create a battle with the material and even more of a challenge. What I like is the physical aspect, the difficultly of the material, it is an encounter that is more body to body in a way.
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What is something people are surprised to know about your work?
Mostly the finesse of the pieces, they don’t always notice that it’s ceramic. It is the fragility and delicateness of the forms that surprise them. Also, they don’t always realize that it’s ceramic because of the white powdery finish.
Do you feel that your craft is in danger?
I don’t feel we are in danger, I think there is a return to the handmade and the meeting that is very new between the artisans and art. We are now able to create works of art in their own right with the use of craftmanship techniques. I think what is happening is wonderful both for contemporary art and for artisans. And of course, for society in general.