« The most satisfying thing is to create everything yourself, from start to finish. From the idea to the finished drawing, it is a question of retranscribing the aspect of surface (matter) wished, thanks to the freedom of work with the hand. "La vie d'atelier'' is an open library: to assume an aesthetic and emotional choice, to leave the trace of the tool as a word, a writing on the material. My quest is that of the good conception of the created object: to choose the raw material, to make it unique by the form in the hope to increase its vibration, its energy! »
- Thomas Duriez
At a very early age Thomas Duriez developed an artistic sensibility that took shape in a strong desire to master a skill. Then he decided to follow a technical course in metal work with the Compagnons, which he completed with a master's degree in ironwork (Ecole internationale de Muizon) before setting up his own business at the age of 24. Among his first projects, he quotes the restoration of furnitures by Pierre Chareau and he evokes the important collaboration with Anne and Vincent Corbière (Galerie du Passage) with whom he developed a sincere exchange on aesthetics and know-how.
At the same time, he began a collection of documentation on 20th century decorators, a collection of works that he continues to this day. This collection is, for him, an inexhaustible source of knowledge and inspiration. It is through books and this self-taught learning of art history that he also discovered the practice of painting. Thomas is a prolific painter and his pictorial practice has a place of its own in his artistic corpus.
In 2012, he begins to draw his own pieces. In 2016, Armel Soyer presents for the first time his furniture collection, RING, in a gallery and at international fairs (PAD, Design/ Basel). This collection testifies to the interest of Thomas Duriez in masterful architectural places such as cathedrals, romanesque churches or neolithic places of worship, spiritual locations that are organized around a specific point, an expression of the sacred. His creations reveal his taste for working with raw materials and meticulous finishes.
Thomas Duriez's pieces are now part of international private collections and he is regularly featured in the specialized press.