Collection: JOËL BARTZ

I GREW UP IN LORRAINE, WHERE MEN WORKED DEEP IN THE COAL MINES. THE YEARS SPENT UNDERGROUND GAVE MY GRANDFATHER A TASTE FOR WILD LANDSCAPES. WITH HIM, I SPENT MY CHILDHOOD OUTDOORS, FAR FROM THE NOISE OF THE CITY, CLOSE TO FORESTS AND LAKES.

LATER, I DISCOVERED THE WORKS OF DALÍ, HUNDERTWASSER, KLIMT, AS WELL AS THE ARCHITECTURE OF GAUDÍ, WHICH AWAKENED MY ARTISTIC VISION. MY DESIRE TO CREATE WAS BORN.

I THEN MOVED TO THE SOUTHWEST OF FRANCE, WHERE I BUILT A STUDIO IN MY OWN IMAGE. SINCE THEN, I HAVE BEEN DEVELOPING MY PRACTICE. I LIKE TO CAPTURE AN IDEA, DISTILL FORMS, PRESERVE THE ESSENCE OF DESIGN, AND SHAPE THE IMAGE OF THE OPEN SEA, THE SCENT OF THE FOREST, INTO OBJECTS THAT ARE BOTH TANGIBLE AND DREAMLIKE.

FROM MY ORIGINS, MARKED BY LONG WINTERS, I HAVE KEPT THIS SIMPLE DESIRE: TO BRING WARMTH INTO THE HOME, TO BRING A PART OF THE OUTSIDE INSIDE.

WHEN MY SCULPTURES LIGHT UP, THEY BECOME AN INVITATION TO CONTEMPLATION, AT THE CROSSROADS OF DESIGN, EMOTION, AND POETRY.