Biography
Born in Paris, France, I moved to the US in 1994.
As far as I can remember I have always been drawing and building things, but it is a workshop with the sculptor Petrus (www.sculpteur-petrus.com) in 1978, which triggered my passion for sculpture. At that time, I had just completed my education in electrical engineering. Rather than going right away to work, I applied to the “Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts” in Paris, and studied drawing and sculpture there for a year, before spending several months with Petrus, from whom I learned the foundation of my clay technique.
However, at the time, a career in art was not really an option for me (or so I thought) and I went back to pursuing a career as an engineer. Eventually, in 2016, after 35 years with limited artistic activity, I finally got back to art full time.
Artist Statement
Creating art is my meditation—a moment of peace where I am free from all other obligations.
My best work happens when I work fast and loose, trusting my inner core rather than my analytical mind.
My current focus is on the abstracted human figure.
In both my drawings and sculptures, I strive to simplify until only a movement, an emotion, a presence is left.
I embrace randomness, yet I wonder—is it truly random, or is it actually the unfiltered expression of my inner self?
My goal is to invite viewers to connect with my work, while offering space for their imagination to complete the story.
My Process
I watch the model, feeling the tension of her pose in my own body. With my knife, I carve bold cuts into the block of clay, striving to capture the essence of the pose. I work quickly to keep the energy flowing...
I draw swift lines and add splashes of watercolor, remaining fully focused on the model, enjoying the freedom of my hand moving across the paper.
My sheet of paper on the table, I load my brush with black ink. I close my eyes, try to clear my mind of any pre-conceived idea of what I am going to paint, enjoy the calmness of the moment, and let the brush move, my eyes still closed. Later I can add a few acrylic splashes to balance the composition.
Years of Aikido practice taught me the value of relaxing, sensing the situation with my body, and trusting the process for a powerful and authentic response. Similarly, I believe that minimizing the mental interference, results in a more authentic expression of myself, along with greater liveliness and energy. This is what I explore in my work, and for both my drawings and my sculptures, my objective is not to achieve realism but, rather, to simplify and abstract the form until only the elements that captivate me remain, and importantly to leave space for the viewer’s imagination. The marks of my tools in the clay and the extra loose lines in my drawings are witnesses to my process and experience, creating a stronger connection between the viewer and my work.
In my figurative drawings (mostly from life), I like to combine charcoal, ink, and watercolor, which allows me to work quickly, and capture life and energy in as spontaneous and raw a manner as possible.
In a similar fashion, I create many of my sculptures in clay, which allows me to work fast. I can then cast them in bronze, which is time consuming but very rewarding.
However, different material lead me to different goals. With my steel sculptures, I am seeking aesthetically pure forms. When reworking my life drawings with acrylic, I am exploring the tension that arises from superposing geometric shapes of paint on top of the organic shapes of my loose lines. When it comes to my stone or wood sculptures, I prefer to create polished and curved forms that highlight the beauty and the unique qualities of the material I am working with.
I now spend my time between my studio in Santa Barbara (CA), the Santa Barbara City College studio lab and foundry, and various life drawing sessions in the area.
When hiking, I also love to build these temporary balancing structures, which sometimes turn out to be surprisingly beautiful... You can see some of this work in my Earth Art page.
One of my longer-term objectives is to use my engineering background to combine art and technology.
Resume
Teaching
Tutoring at the Santa Barbara City College Sculpture department (Fall 2023 to present)
Teaching figure drawing workshops in CA
Instructor (Figure drawing, Sculpture) at Pacific Art League (Palo Alto, CA) 2017 to present.
Teaching assistant (Sculpture) at West Valley College (Saratoga, CA) 2017-2019
Art Education
Metal Sculpture at Santa Barbara City College (CA) 2021 to 2023
Printmaking at Santa Barbara City College (CA) 2021
Bronze casting at West Valley college (Saratoga, CA) 2015-2017
Resident with sculptor Petrus, France 11/1980 to 2/1981
Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France. 1979-1980
Exhibitions
Surviving to Thriving, Voice Gallery, Santa Barbara, May 2024, (Juried)
Imaginings, Voice Gallery, Santa Barbara, November 2023, (Juried)
Superfine Art fair, Los Angeles, Oct 12-15 2023
Abstract is Everything, Voice Gallery, Santa Barbara, June 2023, (Juried)
10 West Gallery, Santa Barbara, May-June 2023
Material Matters, Seager-Gray Gallery, Mill Valley, CA, March 202
Small Images, Atkinson Gallery, Santa Barbara, Feb 15-March 17 2023 (Juried by Arturo Heredia Soto)
Superfine Art fair, Los Angeles, Oct 13-16 2022
10 West Gallery, Santa Barbara, April-May 2022
LifeLive 2022, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, Feb 20 - April 4, 2022. (Juried)
LifeLive 2020, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, September 2020, (Juried), Postponed
Superfine Artfair, San Francisco, Feb 28 - March 1 2020
Pacific Art League, Watercolor show, Palo Alto, June 2019, (Juried)
Pacific Art League, “Abstraction”, Palo Alto, June 2019, (Juried)
Pacific Art League, Member show, Palo Alto, March 2019, (Juried)
stARTup Artfair, San Francisco, April 26-28, 2019, (Juried)
San Mateo Library, May 1 – June 30, 2019
San Mateo City Hall, March 1 – April 24, 2019
Life Live 2019, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, March 2 - April 6, 2019, (Juried)
Sculpture Now, Peninsula Museum, Burlingame, November 2018, (Juried)
Ruth Bancroft Sculpture Garden, Walnut Creek, Summer 2018, (Juried)
stARTup Artfair, San Francisco, April 27-29, 2018, (Juried)
Life Live 2018, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, February 24 - April 14, 2018, (Juried)
Pacific Art League, Work on paper, Palo Alto, February 2018, (Juried)
Pacific Art League, Member show, Palo Alto, January 2018, (Juried, Honorable Mention)
Ruth Bancroft Sculpture Garden, Walnut Creek, Summer 2017 , (Juried)
Triton Museum of Art’s 2D Competition & Exhibition, April 2017, (Juried)
Gallery House, Palo Alto, February 2017
Vyne Bistro, San Jose, January-February 2017
Pacific Art League, Member exhibition, Palo Alto, January 2017, (Juried, 2nd Place)
Not so Heavy Metal II exhibition, Mission College, November 2016, (Juried)
Pacific Art League Instructor exhibition, Palo Alto, November 2016
More the Merrier show, Art Ark Gallery, November 2016 (Juried)
Sand City, September 2016 (Juried)
California Clay Competition, May 2016 (Juried)
Pacific Art League, "Figure and Faces", May 2016 (Juried)
Art Object Gallery, April 2016 (Celebrating International Sculpture day)
Art Ark Gallery, March 2016 (Silicon Valley Open Studio preview exhibition)
Pacific Art League, Member exhibition, January 2016
Group Art Show, Main St Cafe, Los Altos, September 2015
Pacific Art League, "Figure and Faces", August 2015 (Juried)