“That’s how it came to me; I imagine, to create objects inspired by what runs on or under the walls”, says Solenne Belloir in the basement of her studio, in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. I have always been fascinated by architecture. I love looking at the roofs of Paris, but especially the pipes, the cylindrical shapes. Anything tubular. I also like what is perforated and meshed» she adds, without expanding on the exegesis of her own production. This obsessive pattern traces the lines of the vases, baskets and objects that decorate his studio, available in pastel colors, white, pink, green, soft blue. One of its unique pieces, orange in color, is called watertower, water tower: beautiful lines flow towards a spherical shape, a feat of balance reminiscent of country water towers and, inevitably, the photographic work of Bernd and Hilla Becher.
His pieces sold in specialized shops (such as the Boon Room design gallery in Paris, or in Copenhagen, at Yonobi Studio) are also snapped up. on line, with customers all over the world. It’s simple: at 28, Solenne Belloir is known as much in France as in Hong Kong. The high price of his creations (280 euros for the basket, 220 euros for the salad bowl, 250 euros for the vase) is explained by a long and meticulous craftsmanship, an incalculable (and inevitable) number of losses and four passages in the oven, very energy-consuming . “I love the Japanese art of weaving bamboo, rattan, baskets made with branches. I think I try to reproduce this spirit, but with ceramics. His objects, as curious as they are photogenic, hypnotize: ceramic handles come together to form containers and uses to be invented (fruit basket? storage? decoration?) while revealing both the full and the empty. For each of them, we wonder: how does it hold up? Is there a metal wire inside? And yet no. As in sculpture, it is a question of calculations and balance.
Solenne Belloir makes a point of making each of her pieces herself, one by one. No trainee, no assistant, no small hand that would transform his workshop into a factory. The craftswoman has here a real artist’s approach, both to control her production, to ensure its quality, and to print the work of her hand on it: “I wouldn’t like anyone else to realize, assist me. Let it become a kind of catalog. Already, because I know the gestures by heart, which I now know how to work quickly. Solenne Belloir is part of a young guard of new craftsmen for whom the slow work of the hand and the absolute luxury of long time are inherent in their practice. A philosophy shared by her colleague Léa Guetta, who also works in her studio. Trained in ceramics at the Clay workshop (Paris 11th) with several others, Belloir and Guetta are taking part in this revival of ceramics, which has been met with renewed interest: workshops, courses, stars on social networks, the craze for this craftsmanship no longer needs to be proven.