Marie Rancillac
Ceramicist
Paris, France
The joy in a perfect piece of fruit
- Marie creates realistic fruit sculptures with an abundance of personality
- She coil builds shapes with ribbons of clay to achieve the forms she seeks
- Her pieces combine serenity and wit in a nod to classic still life paintings
Born into a family of notable artists, Marie Rancillac grew up in Paris surrounded by sculpture and painting. After studying drawing and fashion design at Studio Berçot, she designed jewellery before training under the renowned sculptor and ceramic artist Charles Semser. Marie launched her career in ceramic art in 1994. Her evocative fruits and vegetables, hand sculpted in grogged stoneware, are simultaneously realistic and abstract forms imbued with anthropomorphic character. For her, still life paintings are a prime inspiration, especially those by the Dutch and Flemish masters. “I am attracted to still life’s realism, simplicity, peace and potential for ambiguity,” she says. Her voluptuous eggplant reclining on a cushion recalls Ingrès’ Grand Odalisque, while her oversized lemons and asparagus echo the 1960s Pop Art movement.
INTERVIEW
I would not want my works to be boring, so I am glad if there is some humour in these pieces. I am mainly driven by forms and contours, a sort of alphabet of shapes, and how the forms relate to each other. I like it when people interpret them in a personal way.
I have always marvelled at the spectacle of nature and I try to convey that sense of almost child-like wonderment in my work. While still life focuses on objects, humans are never far away.
After a rapid sketch, I use the coil building technique, layering ribbons of clay in concentric circles to achieve volume and height before I shape the form. Evidence of this can be seen in pieces like the tree in Eden. I concentrate on realistic details like stems.
I sculpt with grogged stoneware clay in various shades and I apply very little colour. Some pieces get a colour slip, but I like to showcase the grainy texture and natural colour of the clay. I use matte colour to enhance and accentuate the form.
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