ELSA SAHAL ENCOUNTERS CAMILLE FOURNET
Elsa Sahal is represented by the Galerie Papillon in Paris and The Pill Gallery in Istanbul. She exhibits her works in France and abroad (The Fondation Ricard, Villa Arson in Nice, Fondation Maison Rouge, The Museum of Art and Design in New York, The National Museum for Women in the Arts in Washington, etc.) and participates in art fairs and festivals (FIAC Hors Les Murs in 2012, The International Festival of Art in Toulouse, etc.). Additionally, she has received numerous awards: The Award for Sculpture from the Fondation Francesco Messina in 2007, The MAIF Award in 2008, a nomination for The Meurice Prize for Contemporary Art and the Georges Coulon Prize from the Institut de France in 2013.
EQUINOXES
Elsa Sahal’s work can be summarized by her multiple, experimental creations in ceramics. She perfected her technique through numerous residencies in France and abroad to arrive at the style for which she is now known. Working with earth, a malleable material that can take on the shape that one desires, allows Elsa Sahal to confer an enigmatic aspect to each of her creations. Her sculptures appear abstract, but refer to recognizable elements: plants, minerals, even the human body. Sculptures that stand somewhere between diverse forms of the body, anthropomorphic fauna and flora in its wild state. Certain elements are constant throughout Elsa Sahal’s works: sensuality, eroticism, the carnal and the organic. Her sculptures seem to propel themselves, like dancing bodies, infused with a mixture of humor and criticism. She also asserts a feminist approach in her work, by highlighting female genitals, the organ and its pleasure, playing at times on the provocative, though always balanced with a poetic dimension. The sensuality of Elsa Sahal’s sculptures reflect the artist’s pleasure in evoking the carnal aspect of the materials. Through the significance of her work, she contributes to the renewal of sculpture.
What made you wish to partake in the Equinoxes project ?
When I met Jean-Luc and Françoise Déchery, I was very excited about the idea of collaborating with the house of Camille Fournet to draw on the excellence in savoir-faire for which it is known. I wanted to bring together my techniques with those of leatherworking. Mixing ceramics and leather had long been one of my desires. When this opportunity presented itself, it was very lucky for me.
Following your visit to the factory, what were some of your sources of inspiration when developing this work ?
In visiting the factory, I understood something very simple: in the leather goods department, volumes are constructed by working the leather around an empty space, using a pattern-cutting system. Camille Fournet bags feature rigid elements that contrast with very supple ones. This is what characterizes the design of their bags. I use the same technique when working with earth, which I model in plates around an empty space. Therefore, it was in drawing on this shared language, moving from the pattern to the final form, from 2D to 3D, that we were able to discuss with one of the factory’s prototypists, in order to interpret my masses of earth into masses of leather.
How would you decipher your creation ?
“Acrobate” is a sculpture that evokes the body’s movements. It is composed of fragments that are assembled together for the duration of their exposition. This figure can be disassembled and reassembled in various manners. It’s not an idealized body, but rather, a temporary, precarious construction. All of my work references the body. “Acrobate” is an attempt to represent the intensities felt in movement.
Acrobate , Elsa Sahal, 2019.
Credit photo : Kinuko Asano
Close up
Credit : Kinuko Asano
Close up
Credit : Kinuko Asano
Close up
Credit : Kinuko Asano
Close up
Credit : Kinuko Asano
CAMILLE FOURNET ENJOYS PLAYING WITH MATERIALS AND COLORS. WE LOVE CREATORS, THEIR INVENTIVENESS, THEIR ABILITY AND THE WONDER THEY'RE CAUSING.