Inspiration through material
© Charlaine Croguennec
Based in Finistère for the past two years, ceramic artist Hélène Lentiez has developed an aesthetic repertoire that celebrates nature and the infinitely small, while drawing inspiration from architecture and the Bauhaus movement.
Two years ago, Hélène Lentiez changed direction. Having worked for several years as an art instructor in a studio in the Marais in Paris, the young woman had an idea in mind. ’I loved my job at the time, but I really wanted to create objects from A to Z. I saw a lot of works of art pass through my hands, but it was more about enhancement and conservation than creation. Also, I wanted to move closer to the sea…’ The budding ceramist went in search of a medium in which to express herself. ’I noticed that in museums, the works I preferred were always ceramic sculptures. I loved the material and the colours. So I took evening classes to see if I could do something with this material.’ The meeting between the designer and her future medium proved to be a happy one. ’I tend to get bored quite quickly. And ceramics are ideal for me, in the sense that they allow you to create all kinds of objects and do all kinds of research. It offers a particularly wide, even infinite, spectrum of possibilities.’ Her decision was made. She then went to Vannes, in Brittany, to retrain for nine months. ’It was fascinating, we were taught how to make our own glazes, but also a lot about throwing.’ At the same time, Hélène enjoyed making ’off-topic, small sculptures’, before finding her unique character, a vase with cubic-like edges, which she crafted in her workshop in Plomodiern, in Finistère, a stone’s throw from the Atlantic. She sees in the construction of her pieces ’a continuity with framing, because I trace, I cut out, and then I assemble’ the different clay plates. An architecture enthusiast, she can see the influence of the Bauhaus, a movement dear to her heart, in the rigid appearance of her creations. She adorns her small architectural creations with glazes, created using clever mixtures, which she combines as she pleases with scallop shells, sand or granite chips. The result? An ode to nature, like Cuubik lichen, with its pink and blue volcanic mantle, which, as the name suggests, evokes the ’lichen that can be found on rocks. It’s an organism that fascinates me, because it’s both a fungus and a seaweed.’ Her love of living things is also evident in Molecules, where she captures dopamine, the pleasure molecule, while with Psyche she immortalises ’the harmony between body and mind.’ A year and a half after finding her calling, Hélène Lentiez is determined to expand her vases and take them in a new direction. ’I want to concentrate so as not to spread myself too thin, but I wouldn’t say no to new experiments, making small pieces of furniture, drawing inspiration from my Molecules vases, for example. And why not create frames too?’ And thus return to her first love. •
