Annick Leroy

For me, a work of art is attached to the notion of pleasure, and in this sense I like that it offers the viewer beauty and poetry, but also intensity and emotion. My approach to sculpture is both carnal and graphic. Work of flesh Instinctively, out of compassion or mimicry, we identify with a human form, we experience its attitude, the emotion it gives off. Translating this emotion into clay is a very ancient and universal art. If I had to characterize my work in a few words, I would say that I am a contemporary figurative sculptor and that I am above all attracted by movement. The contemporary aspect is highlighted by the staging: decomposition of the movement of a symphony, body suspended in space, or by the choice of emotions: homeless under his blanket, fawn woman on a stool… I have horror of the object body, I seek the intensity and emotion without display of the flesh, even if I often represent the individual in his nudity. I work a lot on the geometry of attitudes before attacking a piece. I analyze the lines of force, the convergences of energy. I also pay particular attention to the language of the hands and the face. I like to create an exchange of gaze between the viewer and my character. Qaunt to movement, it implies an imbalance in a freeze frame. Bronze lends itself well to this and allows spectacular staging. Apart from small bronze sculptures which are a bit like my research laboratory, I run public commissions. I made 2 fountains for a garden in Honfleur, a naked young girl crouching under an umbrella and geese spitting water into a river (Honfleur - 2011). The full-size reproduction of the photo by Charles Ebbets representing builders of modern cathedrals, which are the great buildings of New York, was the opportunity to realize a first large-scale work, but also to produce a disturbing painting of life. If I have a definite interest in bringing lost characters back to life (Bernanos - 2011, Jean Hameau - 2011, the Goadec sisters - 2013), I love challenges and adventure, as evidenced by the sculpture of Carmen balancing on a rope thanks to a counterweight (Pontivy - 2013). I also explore the trace of movement in space in a comic book style (Ar Milin - 2012…