During her residency under the mentorship of Jean-Michel Alberola at the leather workshop in Seloncourt, in the department of Doubs, Io Burgard pursued “her visual research focusing on language, drawing and volume” (Gaël During her residency under the mentorship of Jean-Michel Alberola at the leather workshop in Seloncourt, in the department of Doubs, Io Burgard pursued “her visual research focusing on language, drawing and volume” (Gaël Charbau, in Cahiers de Résidence). “Fascinated by those tools from which the artisans’ skills originate and, conversely, by those skills that give rise to new tools”, the artist projects her universe onto a series of allegorical tools, inspired by these objects. She gathers them in a trunk, like a cradle, recalling the hull of an organic walnut or of a boat about to set sail on a dreamlike voyage. Que vogue la galère ('Come What May')…
Célia Gondol carried out her residency under the mentorship of Ann Veronica Janssens at the Hermès textile factory in Greater Lyon. While there, she imagined and created “two works that blend optical and astrophysical research with the art of the textile factory”. A talented dancer and choreographer, the visual artist’s work focuses on movement, matter and the body. Demonstrating standards as exacting as those of the artisans at Holding Textile Hermès, her work is in a state of permanent flux between dance and visual art. Bringing the mysteries of the universe to silk-printing, she created a homage to interstellar infinity: a celestial mural mounted on a 40-metre strip of silk. La soie à l’épreuve du ciel et du cuivre ('Silk, Copper, and Stars').
DH McNabb was mentored by Richard Fishman at the crystal workshops in Saint-Louis. The American glass artist was versed by the factory’s artisans in the skills of heating and cooling, and put crystal on trial as a material, exploring its possibilities over the course of various projects. An exercise philosophically rooted “in the materials, in the place, but also in certain interactions”, according to the artist. Spherical Horizons, Prism, The Heart(h) of Saint-Louis, The Dog of Saint-Louis, Fumace Light and Bubble Rings stand as a testament to, and a celebration of, these artisan skills. Crystal poetry.
