In the beginning was the sketch...
A multi-disciplinary artist, Christophe sketches life with his fast, vibrant stroke. vibrant stroke. These sketches dance in notebooks, stacked up over the years to form a leaning tower.
From these sketches are born etchings, monotypes, ceramics, paintings, sculptures, photographs, solid wood pieces pieces... An insatiable explorer of matter, he shapes it with the supple gesture of one who discovers it. And his sketches come his inks come to life. A serial score where each motif is
unique.
Each exploration is a chapter written with the thread of material and gesture, a palpable tension between the childlike joy of clearing and the inner demands of adulthood. The choreography of letting go is a stormy tango painful tango. This search is infatuated with techniques such as Sèvres porcelain, dinanderie, pyrography and pyrography and basketry.
The latest creations explore wood in a balancing flirtation between furniture and sculpture. The original sketch is always a watermark. It inspires curves and rhythms, sensuality and modelling. The result
surprising, intriguing, sometimes burlesque, but of undeniable beauty. A mystique reminiscent of the trembling worlds of Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast, where poetry vies with function.
Beyond all etiquette, Christophe and his work have a Don Quixote-like panache, a dream of freedom escaped from a childhood of an incredulous hold-up where truth is revealed. In this kingdom, nothing is usurped. It's a lesson repeated over and over again, where he awakens stunned. For our greatest enchantment...
- Mai Khanh Pham To, January 2023