Studio in Provence
In 2015, Béatrice Cols opened a new studio in Forcalquier, France.
It is located under the Citadel, facing the Alps and the Luberon, bathed in the typical light of Provence.
My creative path
Images and memories appear to me, of children playing, dreaming, exploring the world, quite naturally. They awaken in me the desire to capture their sensibility and model them. Clay helps me to do this. It's the birth of a sculpture...
The first stage is to find the position, dimensions and proportions. Creating movement is also important to me, as is working with the voids that surround the sculpture. Voids are just as important as solids (as they are in painting). The space surrounding the sculpture is a sculpture in itself.
I'm also fascinated by detail, like the face, the fold of a garment, but no more than the whole, because it's the details themselves that make the whole, that make the beauty of a form.
For me, a sculpture is never finished. You can always go further. Every time I work, I'm ready to undo the previous day's work without hesitation, if I think I can go further.
Art is about doing and undoing .... endlessly. It's wonderful.
Key Stages in creating a sculpture
Initially, I materialize my project using iron wire, meticulously searching for the ideal posture and desired movement.
Gradually, I give shape to my artwork using clay, always in pursuit of the perfect harmony between the desired position and the fluidity of movement.
Then I create an initial mould in elastomer. This mould will be essential for making the wax reproduction of my work.
After meticulously checking and adjusting the wax reproduction, I entrust it to the foundryman, who creates a second mould in refractory ceramic.
It is inside this mould, the bronze alloy will be cast to shape the piece.
Once the bronze piece has been obtained, it will pass through the skilled hands of the chiseller to be finely worked and assembled before undergoing a meticulous and careful patina process.
