François Maréchal

François Maréchal realised his desire to work with clay alongside Jean Linard. He gave up his first career to take classes with Jean Lerat. He turned stoneware and fired with wood, to then specialise in gas-fired raku. Doing so allows him more spontaneity and enables rapid experimentation. With his new wood-fired kiln, he is returning to high temperature firing and is making vases and sculptures that showcase the interplay of materials, writing and relief. He draws out his pieces, builds them by assembling slabs of clay, engraves them, encrusts them with sand and lightly coats them in a slip. His works blend geometrical rigour and organic sensuality, and bear witness to an accomplished aesthetic exploration.

Nicole Crestou