Sylvie Enjalbert

Ceramicist

©Jérémie Logeay

©Josefina Pérez Miranda

In touch with the earth

Sylvie uses an ancient technique from Latin America
Her works question the link between man and nature
She has undertaken artistic residencies in Japan and China

“My first encounter with ceramics was a bit by chance,” says Sylvie Enjalbert, who moved to Chile in the early 2000s in search of a new adventure. While living and working in the Atacama Desert of Northern Chile, surrounded by its arid landscape, she discovered clay in a local workshop. It was during this chance encounter that she felt deeply touched as well as challenged by the material, and learned an ancient technique, which she still uses today. She returned to France seven years later to continue her research into clay, creating her workshop in 2011 in the Pyrenees. Using her hands to shape and texture her pots, her technique requires a slowness that is "almost meditative".

Interview

©Josefina Pérez Miranda

©Jérémie Logeay

How would you define what you do?: My works are like resonances that are original and universal. The works that I make create a dialogue between function and art. They are evocations of everyday objects: old pots that were used to store, preserve or cook.
Which tools do you use?: I use very simple wooden tools to stretch the clay or to better define its curves, however my hands are my best tools! I like this economy of means, the calm and the tranquility. Each thumbprint placed on my work represents time and my presence.
The imprints you leave create patterns on your works?: All my pieces are shaped by hand according to an ancient, hand building technique and fired at a high temperature. On the surface of my pieces is the appearance of a movement created by the imprint of my thumb, like little waves.
Why is this important to you?: The piece emerges with a particular soul, a feeling of humanity, a simple trace of the finger, like a movement in life. For me, a pot is like a body and I choose to leave its skin bare, so that the clay can, like skin, have pores that vibrate and breathe, encouraging touch.

Sylvie Enjalbert is an expert artisan: she began her career in 2011