DRAGONFLY & SERGE NICOLE
Ceramist - potter
Both a ceramist, member of the International Academy of Ceramics, and an architect, Serge Nicole is primarily an artist of the Earth. All his creations are a tribute to ceramics, its purity, its softness, and an invitation to dream. As they adorned table centrepieces or the rim of a teacup in his studio, Serge Nicole’s dragonflies seemed to have been expecting our visit…There they were, light, delicate, gentle and yet so strong. All we had to do was reach out for them to return to the Domaine des Etangs. When we visited the Porcelaines de la Fabrique works, we discovered a collection of fissured, chipped, cracked and damaged plates, all destined to be destroyed. Adopting the Kintsugi technique, a Japanese practice dating back to the 15th century in which each accident creates an opportunity for renewal, followed naturally. Based on the experience and technique developed by Serge Nicole, we decided to create a set of one-off serving plates, on which each crack is filled with porcelain before being lacquered in gold, thus enhancing faulty firing and highlighting imperfection.