Annick Thiaville

I have always been fascinated by light. By what it inspires me and my imagination, and my view of things.

How, through a sunbeam or a shadow, it livens up a landscape, a face, a sculpture, a photograph.

Light is at the heart of my creation. As is the quest of harmony; harmony of volumes, of materials, of full and empty...

Through my work with clay, porcelain, so luminous and translucent, stood out, for a time, as a priority through the technique of lithophane. A perfect answer to my approach, also a way to connect with my early passions, picture, films and my strong interest in glass work. 

So I used this technique of the 19th century as a tracer. While the light was revealed through my subjects, I tried to attract attention on shadows. 

As they echoed each other more than they opposed, I invited the viewer to step in the heart of the work, sometimes choosing the viewing angle of X-rays.

But sculpting, by which I experienced working with clay from childhood, is what I'm concentrating on now.

I sculpt stoneware unique pieces, exploring a very personnal world, between myth and reality, where man and animal meet and mix, where nature, magical and powerful, is everywhere and a limitless source of inspiration.

I work in a very intuitive and sensory way, almost instinctive, as clay, is, as a matter of fact, the perfect material to reconnect with our archaic memory. 

Annick Thiaville