Véronique Persy, sculptures with a particular soul

LET'S MEET

The arts, drawing and painting from childhood... Then sculpture, which came much later, by chance, in 2007. I wanted to touch clay, to do something different.

Ceramics and modelling became part of my daily life... An idea that began to take shape after an evening with a sculptor friend who introduced me to Jean-Jacques Darbaux, in Nîmes.

I decided to take the plunge and follow courses in the artist's studio for a year, working with subjects, models and sometimes life-size creations. It was a total immersion in the world of sculpture that really encouraged me to continue on my own, with the support of the master.

THE WORKSHOP

I worked for 8 years at L'atelier, which was both a studio and an art gallery on rue Emile Jamais in Nîmes. That's when I decided to move to Saint-Césaire, where I've been for 2 or 3 years now. It's a much more suitable place to work, with the kilns on site, and one that allows me to develop to the full. The space offered by this place allows the works to come to life.

THEMES

My themes? Peaceful, reassuring faces, sometimes children, creatures from the forest... Although I can adapt and create on a given theme, I prefer to choose my own subjects for reflection.

Out of the clay comes a figure, a body, a momentum, a dynamic that is appropriated by both the material and... my hands.

It's a kind of symbiosis that grows with each passing day. The serenity that emanates from my work gives it a life of its own, intrinsically linked to the awareness or sensitivity that emanates from it.

When an emotion touches me, it's like a dialogue that's established. If nature is a theme that I like to follow and that recurs regularly in my sculptures, it aims to convey and communicate my ever-growing and highly topical interest in ecology, environment and biodiversity.

I like to convey a sense of calm, to reassure...

FROM NEW TECHNIQUES TO THE BIRTH OF A COLLECTION

I've always been improving my skills and continuing to explore different techniques, such as raku, naked raku, engobe, enamel, fired clay, bronze and also using the potter's wheel. A world of possibilities is opening up to me as I continue to work on my sculptures... Quite fascinating!

I've created and mixed styles in several of my creations. There are the sculptures with real deer or merino antlers in my Conscience écologique (ecological awareness) collection...

While some of my pieces measure up to 1.40 metres, most are more reasonable in size, which doesn't stop them carrying a message, a feeling, like my Stairway to heaven collection and its toddlers, or the comforting, reassuring curves in my collection... Curves in bodies, like automatic writing where curves follow curves, over and over again.

BIRTH OF A SCULPTURE

From the start of modelling to the finished piece, I would sayt it takes at least 3 weeks to dry and 10 hours to fire, even longer if you want to glaze the piece... It's a lengthy process, but one that always pays off in the end. The result is always a delight, even a rebirth, a long-awaited encounter.

THE EXHIBITIONS

Then comes the expected time for exhibitions. Within the Rue des Arts association in Nîmes, group exhibitions where we study a theme together to align with our different skills, eloquence, intelligence of the material...

But you also have to vary the pleasures and know how to reinvent yourself, on your own. Which is often a challenge, I do admit.

I look forward to seeing many of you at my next events, of course!

Many thanks to Véronique Persy for her collaboration with this article.

Photos©1, 3 Marie-Jeanne Delaunay, 2 et 4, Véronique Persy.

The right address: Visit the artist's website! See Véronique Persy at La cerise sur le château 2024, until 15 November.