Grégoire Scalabre

Ceramicist Grégoire Scalabre’s work is built on accumulations of tiny porcelain amphorae, each hand-turned by the artist. These large pieces are formed by a multitude, sometimes thousands, of smaller pieces, arranged over large surfaces, some in neat rows, others in chaotic fashion. His sculptures confront scales from miniature to monumental, summoning nature through order and chaos, the infinitely small and the infinitely large.

Grégoire Scalabre began working with accumulations of tiny vessels during his 2010 residency at Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres. He showed Astrée in 2011 at Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and his work features in the permanent collections of the museum (Sôane, 2020) and the manufacture. In 2022 he was awarded the Prix Liliane Bettencourt pour l’Intelligence de la Main® in the Talents category, for Ultime Métamorphose de Thétis. In 2023 his sculptures were on view at Domaine de Chaumont sur Loire.

During his residency at Villa Kujoyama, Grégoire Scalabre delved further into the idea of nature in his work: make connections between his sculptures in an environment other than the white cube; create forms through accumulations (miniatures and other forms) which blend into or highlight an element of the surrounding environment; reintegrate or “return” his work to nature.

Grégoire Scalabre took advantage of his time at Villa Kujoyama to explore the possibilities offered by Japanese culture, whose art depicts nature with the utmost refinement. Visualising the seasons’ vibrant colours – the pinks of spring, the reds, oranges and yellows of autumn – he sought ways to incorporate colour and plants, such as moss, into his work, and drew inspiration from the Japanese garden whose representation symbolises the world, the human soul and the impermanence of nature.

Portrait : Anthony Girardi
Photos : Ultime métamorphose de Thétis, crédit Anthony Girardi
Cygnus
Achille
Akantha, crédit Gaetane Girard