The Others
Meet The Others: Corinne Chauvet
The Game Changers. The Rule Breakers. The Innovators. Discover some of the fantastic emerging talent showcasing their work at The Other Art Fair.
Drawing inspiration from emotion, human gentleness and ‘full-throated laughter’, Corinne Chauvet’s sculptures bear witness to the very best of mankind.
Tell us about who you are and what you do.
I have dedicated myself fully to my life as a sculptor. Throughout my life as a sculptor, I always wonder about the ambient moroseness of my country of France… Why in France, which I love so much, do people not smile but complain? While we have everything to be happy about… In some less affluent countries, people smile, are even cheerful. In response to these questions, I explore conversations and social exchanges and my sculptures offer a mirror reflection of the best of ourselves.
I love traveling, focusing on Asian countries, to feel emotions, to meet people, observing faces and find the right expressions. Traveling helps you see life as a child. I am looking for this kind of emotions, the way you see people with no filter, the way you speak to them with all your heart.
I believe that people forget they’re real personalities because of the rules and the weight of society. My work is to reconnect them with themselves, I think it is the job of all artists.
If you only had three words to describe your work what would they be?
Happiness, wisdom, soul-searching.
How did you first get interested in your mediums and what draws you to them specifically?
I studied Fine Art and History of Art, for five years, in Montpellier and Bordeaux, and I also spent a year in Leicester as as an Erasmus student. I had amazing courses with great sculptors. I realised that I have particularly good talents working with clay. The day that changed my life was visiting Chatsworth House where I encountered the sculptor Elizabeth Frink’s work. I was so impressed by her work, her bronze sculptures of figures appearing to be running through the garden and I decided this is what I wanted to do, be a sculptor.
Can you walk us through your process? How long do you spend on one work? How do you know when it’s finished?
I work a lot from my studio, and I especially enjoy the mornings when I have a good energy to give forms and emotions to my clay. Some days I can work for 8 hours. I also use a mirror to look at my work, as Leonardo Da Vinci did. You can see what you have to change.
I can spend one week on a sculpture. It takes 3 weeks to dry and I kiln it for 24 hours. I can add the color before or after the kiln, depending on what kind of effect I want.
Has being in isolation affected your work in away way?
One good thing about isolation is that I have had more time, I have done new works with a lot of details.
A negative is that even though as an artist I am used to being alone, I like to meet people in my exhibitions, all of which have been postponed and I miss those relationships.
What is the best advice given to you as an artist?
As David Hockney says “Get up and work!”
Shop artwork by Corinne and other trailblazing artists at The Other Art Fair’s Online Studios.
Introducing The Other Art Fair Online Studios, a new online platform offering art lovers around the world access to over 800 Fair artists. The Online Studios will keep our community feeling inspired, engaged, and continue to spread joy through art.
