Iris Tatoo, 2017

Josepha   Emerging artists

Born in 1950 in the South West of France. She lives and works in the Drôme countryside. From her past as a stylist, Josepha has retained a pressing need to highlight the female body. She explores the full extent of this universe through her sculptures, where a special atmosphere of grace and lightness reigns. There is in his work the mystery and the magic of creation. His world is situated between dream and reality, where the imagination has no limit and where all fantasies and freedoms are allowed, provided that refinement, elegance and poetry remain. Josepha represents the woman in all her splendor, highlighting her femininity, her sensuality, her tenderness, her exuberant or wise nature. His characters live, move, breathe, and have nothing of the classic academic nude. If we had to choose a godfather for him, it would inevitably be Degas. There is in his sculptures all the grace, all the lightness, the finesse and the life of his dancers. All her work is a celebration of the modern woman, mother and seducer, ingenuous and seductive, exuberant or wise. None of them is frozen in a "posed" attitude, all are there, caught on the spot and ready to set in motion. They walk with a light and dancing step, remain for a moment thoughtful, offering their faces to the rays of the sun. Unlike the frozen marbles, the artist likes to represent them in all the poses of life, sometimes accompanied by a small child. There are never any models, just an idea that guides the work to completion, bringing its share of surprises. Josepha plays with space and volumes, for her, movement is an essential component, essential to the grace and harmony of a silhouette. She allows herself the most daring extravagances and does not hesitate to force the imbalance to its smallest limits, in search of the exact point of gravity. It is a challenge that she sets herself constantly, with each new creation. His imagination makes him multiply and infinitely vary his modes of expression: bronzes and resins are just as “chiseled” with colored touches, adorned with extravagant outfits highlighting the arabesque of a hip, the slender line of the legs. And what could be funnier and more original than to dress these small and lively bodies in brightly colored outfits: the miracle of the patina which gives the bodies shades of bluish green or golden leather, but the dresses and the lace swirl around in their own colors. It is indeed the color that contributes to this breath of life and our gaze is softened, we then remember the ancient times when women were synonymous with fertility and joy. Josepha's register is one of love, tenderness, kindness and inner beauty. Her sculptures are only femininity and sensuality to which are added a touch of humor, a lot of seduction, charm and voluptuousness. The artist is as passionate and imaginative as he is rigorous. Bubbling and generous, it always favors moments of relaxation and happiness, exuberantly emphasizing the charm and carefree life. This unbridled side, this very nice little touch of madness, are the keys to its originality. Because Josepha dares, where others hesitate! Because Josepha shakes up the clichés, when others wonder! Without a priori, she shapes the abundance of her imagination with spontaneity. “I like to idealize. My work is recreation and each new idea arises like a game, like a beautiful story ”. Josepha