Sister Samuelle, a mosaic artist inspired by material dialogue
26 October 2023
We recently welcomed Sister Samuelle, an artist from the Charlois group, in Murlin, to discover the group’s activities and meet craftsmen of the Manufacture tonnelière La Grange for an opportunity to share their respective skills. The aim is for Sister Samuelle to one day take one of the coopers’ creations and make it her own. We’re sure you’ll be hearing more about this project in the months to come.
Born on April 3, 1976, Sister Samuelle graduated from “l’école Boulle” in cabinetmaking. After her studies, she joined religious order, while continuing to work with wood in furniture restoration workshops. She discovered mosaics in Rome and trained for 10 years.
Returning to France in 2014, she chose to live as a religious hermit* in the Troyes diocese and, at the same time, opened up to abstract art. Her mosaics are made from natural materials such as wood, slate and gold leaf, and are a continuation of nature and her surroundings. As the artist puts it: ” The dialogue is established between each material allows them to be not only fully themselves, but also to embellish each other. When each is in its rightful place in relation to others, unity emanates from all, offering itself in a coherent, unified landscape.”
The artists’ universe resonates with our group’s activities and values, not only through the materials she uses – wood in particular – but also her desire to give them a second life.
The spirals and concentric circles of material found in some of Sister Samuelle’s works are reminiscent of trees’ growth rings, and particularly those of oak trees due to their regularity.
An artist to be discovered in a few days’ time at the Espace Saint-Pierre des Minimes in Compiègne for an exhibition entitled Droit au cœur, in which artist’s works are an invitation to discover matter as a mirror to our own paths.
*A religious hermit is a religious sister who lives alone and, by definition, doesn’t live in a community.
Photographs © D.R.
Exhibition Droit au cœur
October 28 to November 23, 2023
Espace Saint-Pierre des Minimes
60200 Compiègne
