“It all starts with shape and color,” says this rising-star French ceramist. Using a knifelike tool, Gavalet slices earthenware into flat forms that she then hand-assembles into three dimensions, firing the results before painting them with colorful enamels for one last bake, all in her petite workshop just outside Paris. The wild and whimsical pieces (squiggly striped vases, mirrors outlined in zany shapes) take inspiration from Ettore Sottsass’s playful objects, Jean Dubuffet’s graphic compositions, and her nine-year-old daughter’s spontaneous drawings.
One to watch - Alice Gavalet
June 26, 2021
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FEATURED & RELATED ARTWORKS
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FEATURED ARTIST
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Alice Gavalet
After studying at ENSAAMA Olivier de Serres and the Arts Décoratifs in Paris, Alice Gavalet began her career working for major fashion and interior design brands, and with designer Elizabeth Garouste. In 2010, she decided to refocus on her personal creation and set up her own studio in Nogent-sur- Marne, filled with felt-tip sketches and lined with boxes, vases, mirrors, lamps and other unique original pieces. Her creative process begins with drawing, a daily discipline that enables her to formalize her thoughts and bring her new pieces to life. She then assembles different materials – ceramics, metal, wood, fabric – and geometric shapes, combining them with bright colors to create objects that are witty, strong and honest. To Gavalet, ceramics is a game. The playful aspect of her work can be seen at every stage of creation, which must be joyful and instinctive. Her innate sense of color and pattern is enhanced by her work in engobe, which she favors for its matte appearance, and by her spontaneous technique, using slabs and colombin. Her sources of influence range from textiles to art brut and the decorative arts, from Betty Woodman and Ettore Sottsass to Max Ernst, Jean Dubuffet and Paul Cox. However, the ceramist’s work is not particularly trendy. Her pieces are strong but unprovocative, imposing themselves naturally. It’s this signature that attracts attention in France and abroad, where she exhibits extensively in galleries, art centers and Parisian and international fairs. She exhibited her work at Paris Design Week 2020 and has been featured in Architectural Digest, the Financial Times and Wallpaper Magazine.
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