Botanical Wardrobes

Manifestly inspired by the life of plants, Marie-Noëlle Fontan brings to her work an eye deliberately informed by botany. The artist is naturally inclined to reveal an immanent harmony among her materials, colors, and forms. Her work draws boundless inspiration from the generosity of the vegetable kingdom, whether of plants, herbs, or trees. Leaves, twigs, bark, seeds, flowers, and fruits—all contribute their vibrant coloring and textures to a creativity and handicraft remarkable for its delicacy. It is as if the artist is weaving nature itself, in the form of an inspired bouquet of wildflowers, into the weft of a linen or cotton fabric. In her work, even the most anodine leaf takes on the allure of a graphic sign. Here, art talks about nature, and nature about art.

(This paragraph is taken from a text by Ambroise Monod, Paris 2008.)

Site : www.marie-noelle-fontan.com
Instagram : #fontanmarienoell

After painting and engraving, there were the plants, collected, dreamed, and transformed into paper, into “vegetable window-panes” and “artist books.”

I pursued a sculptural and poetic dialogue with the vegetable, creating sculptures of clothing out of the bark of mulberry or niaouli trees, palm-leaf fibres, and bamboo sheaths; like a second, vegetable skin of which the whole parts dress, and the voids inhabit, the ethereal and disincarnate existence of a transitory being.

To create my ‟vegetable wardrobe,” I worked with the form and symbolism of the garment as a footprint, a trace, a poetic envelope for bodies and beings. The garment is the ‟concrete” and aesthetic incarnation of the being, while also acting as a second, intimate skin, which one chooses to wear on one’s body in order to protect oneself, to show oneself, to exist.

I invite you to take a walk in my ‟garden of souls,” of ‟transitory beings,” among the bark of mulberry or niaouli trees, palm-leaf fibres, and bamboo sheaths.

( Text : Phet Cheng Suor )

Site : www.phetchengsuor.com

At the heart of Emma Bruschi’s work lie the use of primary materials, the artisanal tradition, and experimentation as well as the sharing and passing on of knowledge about her craft. She thinks of the land, of a particular place, as an essential primary material in and of itself. She draws inspiration from the places which are important to her personally. Her collection exudes a certain air of nostalgia, of calm and slowness. This comes directly from the rural and agricultural environment, from the flora and fauna of the Savoy region in France’s Alps, as well as from the skills developed in this environment and the wardrobe of workaday clothing, which together constitute the fundamental points of reference for her designs.

Since 2021, Bruschi has been cultivating rye on the family farm with the help of her uncle Eric Vergain. The chaff threshed from this rye—after a joyous day of harvesting with the sickle—is later used in the production of her clothing, accessories, and harvest-time bouquets. Her objective is to cultivate the land and work with the materials it puts at her disposition: to integrate the work of farming and crafting textiles. In 2020, she was awarded Chanel’s Prix 19M des Métiers d’art at the 35th International Festival of Fashion, Photography and Fashion Accessories in Hyères for her Almanach collection.

The ‟Almanac” collection takes its inspiration from the popular imagery of the savoyard almanac and its reports on traditional arts and crafts. In every village of the Savoy, there were people who knew how to work with wood, straw, and reeds; in every household, those who could embroider, spin, knit, card, and work with wire or straw. These were the repositories of an age-old tradition of craftsmanship, handed down from generation to generation, along with the pride in doing good work.

• HEAD – Haute École de l’Art et de Design, Genève
• 35^ème Festival International de Mode, de Photographie et d’Accessoires de Mode, Hyère, France 2020
• Almanach
• Prix 19M des Méteirs d’art de CHANEL au 35^ème Festival

Site : www.emmabruschi.fr
Instagram : @emma.bruschi