Introducing Sylvain PIGET

Born in Cognac in 1988, and grandson of a carpenter (a noteworthy detail which I’ll explain later). When he was 8, he began drawing and painting in art classes which he took once a week.

His art teacher quickly noticed his artistic potential and encouraged him to exhibit his work when he was just 13 years old. He received fervor and encouragement from the public, his teacher and his entourage. "I have to admit that it turned me off radically at the time. I wanted a real job, as they say, I was projecting myself towards a different lifestyle, a different career than that of an artist. So, I ruled it out, put away my paintbrushes and stopped painting altogether."

Sylvain chose a very different path and led a busy life, juggling a successful career all the while participating in top-level sports…with his brushes still stowed.

Sylvain goes on to explain : "Then, out of the blue in 2016, a cousin with whom I have close ties who had kept in mind my earlier artistic life, came to me and asked me to dust off my paintbrushes. She had seen an exhibit of Cédric Bouteiller's work, and wanted me to create an artwork in a style similar to his, since she could not afford one. I agreed and bought all the materials needed. That’s when something clicked ! I had loads of fun making it, I felt electrified...from that point on, I decided to work as a freelancer, in order to have more free time, and I began looking for a studio worthy of the name...I had to paint".

His first creations ? Mainly abstract and blue - and its many shades - which was a revelation to him, in connection with his love of the Mediterranean Sea.

Yet he was disgruntled, despite the pleasure felt from creating, exploring and making his own colors, and from the praise received exhibiting and selling his paintings. Unsatisfied because Sylvain had not reached the “wow”... in identity and originality, HIS artistic DNA that would truly express HIS singularity.

Not only did he make his own colors, he also built his own wooden frames... If you recall, his grandfather was a carpenter and Sylvain learnt to handle machines and tools in his workshop. And when making his frames, he uses wood scraps...he had boxes and boxes filled with scraps he knew would be of good use..." I knew I had to/was going to make my own frames. I knew I had to make something of those scraps, even if I didn't know what at the time...". In 2019, he began his first composition of pieces of wood which he painted in Klein blue, artist he adores and to whom he wished to pay tribute. The first of what was to become his "trademark", his DNA. Still technically imperfect, he fine-tuned and created several artworks only be seen by friends and family. But Sylvain Piget then knew that he had found his "Art ", it was as clear as day.

During an exhibit, he displayed 3 works of this newfound Art to the public. The three immediately sold while more were ordered...

His artworks summon us and make us question "how ?", and capture our attention with their beauty. Whatever the case may be, they reel us in, and may even be hypnotic...

"While my abstract paintings were created as a result of my letting go, a sort of relief, I discovered a meticulous obsession with details and a quest for perfection in creating these new artworks. Granted, it was tedious at first, but now I have acquired a kind of dexterity and let a part of instinct express itself in the arrangement and selection choice of wood scraps I lay down and assemble, line by line, that become a whole".

Sylvain Piget's works first take shape in his mind before scribbling it down on a notebook. He then chooses one of his sketches to bring to life, in every sense of the word. "The intention in the drawing isn’t etched in stone : I allow myself to trust my instinct and play with the wood, its shapes and cuts, and the colors. 80% of my creations differ from the initial drawings".  At times, the color is chosen during the assembly process, while other times, Sylvain will first finish assembling the wood before deciding which color to paint it. There are no rules other than pleasure, instinct, desire and the exploration of his technique. He allows imperfections, "but minimal ones, sometimes that only I can see. My earlier exigencies were very frustrating which is why I have learned to love my flaws". He keeps the raw feel of the wood, such as in the cut wedges he deliberately does not sand completely as to keep the timber’s grain and vein pattern. "I like wood; its warmth and substance I wish to conserve, and whose imperfectly sanded contrasts and color variations I accentuate by painting them".

The sphere, because of its aesthetics and above all what it symbolizes, is his preferred shape; an infinite quest for the perfect circle, a reference to Plato and "the intelligible world of ideas... ". Squares then came to him when spheres would not lend themselves to the assembly of certain colors. Sylvain Piget explored shapes as he did materials, creating his first drafts with aluminum sheet, or even cardboard...