Home Residents Mona Oren

Mona Oren

Crafts
Aug. 
 Dec. 2025

Presentation

Over the past twenty years, Mona Oren has developed a protean œuvre that regularly calls upon drawing, photography, video and installation, but whose centre of gravity, nonetheless, is sculpture. Winner, in 2018, of the Prix Liliane Bettencourt pour l’Intelligence de la Main®, she has developed particular expertise in the creation of wax moulds and impressions. While her initial source of inspiration was nature and the plant world, she has since taken a more abstract direction, drawing primarily on her personal history. She conducted her first research into Japanese haze wax in 2022, during a one-month residency at Villa Kujoyama. The discovery of this rare material was both a revelation and an inspiration. Mona Oren’s work has been exhibited many times in museums and galleries in France and internationally.


Project

Haze wax, a treasure to explore

Mona Oren’s work centres on an emotional core spun from impermanence and memory, using a material that mirrors this sentiment: wax. For Oren, wax is more than a substance; it is a living thing. During her first encounter with Japanese haze wax in 2022, she was intrigued by similarities between the techniques and tools employed by Japanese artisans and those used in her own Paris studio. She went on to experiment with combinations that would enable her to sculpt this unusual natural material. For her 2025 residency, Oren hopes to continue her exploration of haze wax and the trees from which it is produced. She will incorporate other specifically Japanese materials into her practice, such as rice wax, Washi paper and sticks of Sumi black ink, whose alchemies she has yet to discover. Echoing her use of moulds, the resulting body of work will showcase the finished pieces alongside the original artefacts – offering a glimpse of the poetry within the creative process.


Lauréate Prix Liliane Bettencourt pour l’intelligence de la main ®

Invitée à la Villa Kujoyama

Mona Oren est lauréate du Prix Liliane Bettencourt pour l’intelligence de la main ® et à ce titre, a résidé à la Villa Kujoyama en 2022 pendant un mois.

Chaque année, depuis 2022, deux lauréats du Prix Liliane Bettencourt pour l’intelligence de la main ® sont invités à séjourner un mois à la Villa Kujoyama afin de développer un projet en lien avec leur savoir-faire et la culture japonaise.

Le statut des lauréats invités à séjourner à la Villa Kujoyama diffère de celui des lauréats des autres programmes de résidence de la Villa Kujoyama. Néanmoins, les lauréats sélectionnés ont la possibilité de déposer, par ailleurs, une candidature pour les programmes de résidences solo, binôme, ou duo, proposés par l’Institut français.

La Fondation Bettencourt Schueller, l’Institut français et la Villa Kujoyama sont heureux de contribuer par ce nouveau dispositif d’accueil à participer encore davantage au rayonnement des métiers d’art français et de favoriser le dialogue entre les deux pays.


Crédits

Portrait : Pauline_Hervault

© Mona Oren
-1 Cocon I, detail, 2020
-2 Cocon III, detail, 2021, crédit François Talairach
-3 Genus_2019
-4 Dead Sea Project, 2019