Dominique Coenen

Since she studied at the Beaux-Arts de Châtelet and then at the Ateliers d’Arts Appliqués in Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium, Dominique Coenen has preferred to work on the human form. Clay retains the imprints of a spontaneous, impulsive shaping, one which expresses emotions and feelings. Whether she is working with blocks of clay or coils, she embraces the rips and the vigour of the modelling. The clay is imbued with oxides in order to produce different shades of colour when it is fired in an electric or wood-fired kiln. The slender figures, with their streamlined but expressive silhouettes and faces, are united by their bodies made from the same material. In couples or in groups, they carve out the inner space of the work and sketch out the beginnings of a story.

Nicole Crestou