Erwan Boulloud

Atacamita II

Description/

“The Atacama collection was born from the observation of a natural phenomenon: the earth is a living material that metamorphoses. Wet, it is malleable and plastic, but subjected to the heat of the sun, it hardens, cracks and tears.

Erwan Boulloud was interested in this mechanism because he finds in it a very pure example of a recurring theme in his work: the marks of passing time. He sees in these cracks the symbol of the stigmata that life leaves behind. If these cracks may at first seem random, they are actually determined by their environment. Over the course of his research, Erwan manages to influence their number, size and shape. When he creates a piece of this collection, it is not its final shape that he draws, but it is his environment that he composes. He then lets the natural order take its course and apply its laws to it.

The Atacamita sideboards are an imprint, a witness: a moment of this passing time, frozen in bronze, and set like a jewel.”

Erwan Boulloud

designer

Erwan Boulloud is a graduate of the Ecole Boulle. He began by collaborating with a number of designers, while simultaneously staging scenographies for various museums including the Louvre. In 2003 he set up his own workshop, where he creates unique or limited numbered pieces. He works with a wide range of materials, exploiting the uniqueness of each in relation to the other. The materials are raw, at times burnt, polished or peeled. Minerals meet flora; metal, wood or concrete enclose precious stones, in creations where strangeness meets humour. Erwan Boulloud is the heir of a time-honoured tradition of craftsmanship, a participant of the ever-evolving narrative of the decorative arts. His works are always functional, their mechanism often visible to remind us of the origins of their creation. Always holding a story, they offer surprises and wonderment.