Clémentine Brandibas

Embroiderer

©Clémentine Brandibas

©Sébastien Le Clézio

©Gilles Leimdorfer

Poetic needlework

Clémentine masters a wide range of needle techniques
Her embroideries reflect natural landscapes
She finds inspiration in different crafts

Clémentine Brandibas explores the art of embroidery by uniting beauty with subtlety; she expresses her sensitivity through her poetic needlework. Drawing her inspiration from nature, in all its richness, Clémentine’s paintings reflect organic landscapes and her palette of diverse tones and various textures invites us to contemplate nature's beauty. The illusion of embroidery fades under the finesse of her gesture. Clémentine masters a wide range of needle techniques, as well as dyeing and painting on silk. Self-taught, she subtly diverts and interprets the different methods. Feathers are one of her favourite materials: she has developed her own technique, “marouflage of feathers”, through which she skillfully works on cuts and shades.

Interview

©Gilles Leimdorfer

©Sébastien Le Clézio

How would you define your work?: I observe and feed my imagination; it allows me to interpret and translate the world around me through my artistic sensitivity and technical expertise. My work takes the form of mural works resulting from my personal research or from various commissions that I have received.
When and how did you actually start?: I graduated in 2011. For some years I had a side job and continued to embroider in my spare time. In 2016, I was lucky enough to be contacted by a haute couture designer, Yiqing Yin; our collaboration project allowed me to launch myself hundred percent into art embroidery.
Have you learned from a master?: No. I learned and still learn through observation and experimentation, through imagination and practise. A bit like a scientist, I start with different hypotheses and through various experiments I verify and select the conclusive results, which I then develop in my own poetic universe.
What is little known about your work?: Before I learned to embroider in 2006, I used to draw and paint a lot. I enjoyed making portraits of people who were close to me. Since I started embroidery, I have completely put aside any figurative element in my work.

Clémentine Brandibas is an expert artisan: she began her career in 2012