How did you discover basketmaking?
It was a second chance. I wanted to change career path – I didn't think that it would be through a manual job. Basketry was a bit of an obvious choice, I am very attached to this craft of basketry and to those who taught me. It’s an infinite medium that hasn't been used much.
Do you have a stronger connection to wicker or to clay?
Basketry is really the backbone of my life. I could do basketry without clay, but not clay without basketry. I don't want to have a hierarchy between them, but it is a question of identity in my work, and the essence of my work is to marry the two.
© Patrice Niset
How did you come to mix these two crafts?
I’ve wanted to mix materials for a long time. I learnt the clay on my own, I wanted to discover it myself. I thought of the first potteries that were born from basketry, and how one day by chance they realised that by drying the clay it became impermeable.
What is your creative process?
I rebuild my kiln around each piece. If I want the wicker to remain after firing, I have to organise it accordingly. I work a lot on storytelling, that's really what it's about, so If my pieces have suffered, it's like life. The goal is to tell what I want to tell through the piece.