Catherine Lesueur

His works of art have a soul

Is art capable of expressing the inexpressible? Many artists, mainly since the last twentieth century, have wondered about this antinomy supposed to break down the barriers of the gaze. To answer them, each one invents a language to his measure, which he believes to be specific, whereas he often turns out to have been initiated by others. If art alone does not provide a satisfactory answer to this question, it makes it possible to explore ways that widen the fields of the possible to communicate one's feeling of the world. Experiment, Catherine Lesueur knows what this means. Far from it the idea of ready-made recipe to impose its vision on the spectator. Make way for work, inspiration and fresh eyes. "I am self-taught," proclaims this artist who has devoted herself exclusively to sculpture and painting for the past ten years or so. Like many women of my generation, my parents opposed my vocation as an artist. I had to wait for many years before finding in my surroundings the serenity necessary for my art ”.

The story of Catherine Lesueur sculptor begins one evening in December with a detour in the shop of a merchant of "Colors and accessories for creative leisure". She impulsively buys a bag of earth there, immediately launches "into something" and discovers the pleasure of the other's gaze on what comes out of her hands. “It encouraged me,” she says. »In the process, she takes part in a sculpture competition in front of a public in her good town of Saint-Maur des Fossés, in the Paris region. To her surprise, she won 1st prize. Afterwards, it's the gear.

Today, Catherine Lesueur does not have to regret not having followed an ordinary didactic course. Despite the experience now acquired, it has retained a natural freshness and a free technique in the service of a sculpture of great sensuality. She draws her inspiration from everyday life. Her works generally take shape in ovoid shapes (Prehistory, At the heart of the Moon…), including for her portraits (Sumo) and the myths she addresses (À main nue, Now…). The gesture is always instinctive. "It is only afterwards, when I contemplate the work of a day that I find there symbols of Creation". These symbols are, in a way, the extra soul that gives life to the works of Catherine Lesueur, because the pleasure of the gaze is also to flush out the hidden things that emerge from a work, to understand the astonishing osmosis of the earth. and the artist, the material, the hand and the intelligence ... "