During the Kunst10Daagse in Bergen (20 to 29 October 2023), I will represent Vincent Lajarige with his sculptures. In my previous blog you can read how I met Vincent. I would now like to tell a bit more about him and his work.
Born in 1948 in Rouen (FR), Vincent has been drawing and painting from an early age. However, his career first takes a different path, as he becomes an anaesthetist. Through his work for the Red Cross and Doctors of the World, he encounters the rainforest in the late 1980s. This made such a deep impression on him because he felt a strong connection with nature. From then on, he drew inspiration from this in his art that he creates alongside his job as an anaesthetist. The desire to preserve the rainforests and primary forests leads him to start an association with Francis Hallé in 2009 to make a film about the disappearing rainforests. This film is eventually released in 2013.
The urge to do even more for the rainforests, together with Francis Hallé and Mark Alsterlind, led to the creation of the Forest Art Project foundation in 2012. The aim of the foundation is to draw attention to the threat to rainforests. They organise exhibitions featuring artworks by the artists associated with this foundation.
Every time I speak or see Vincent, I am struck by his enormous modesty. And also his passion for art and rainforests. Last June I met him again and also had the opportunity to visit his studio. What a fantastic space to work in! Actually more like a huge hangar with sculptures everywhere that are still being worked on. Very cool to see.
To show what he works with, he picks up some pieces of wood and lets me feel and smell them. For instance, he grates over the wood and lets me smell scents like musk and mint. There is a huge diversity of wood. Vincent considers it his treasures, talks about it with love. No tree has been cut down for his works of art. Every piece of wood has been found or given. The idea behind using the “old” wood is to give it a new life in the form of a beautiful work of art. Stunning, isn’t it? Besides wood, he also incorporates synthetic resin, glass and light into his sculptures. This is how he creates atmospheres.
Besides the beautiful tree sculptures, Vincent also creates paintings inspired by the rainforest. One of these will also be on display during Kunst10Daagse.
In my next blog, I will take you through the creation of the objects Vincent makes especially for Kunst10Daagse.
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