Introducing Fabienne Peretti

Fabienne is one of those artists who began creating exclusively for their own enjoyment, and who then dared cross the threshold of galleries because of the encouragement of their loved ones... "Entering a gallery was not at all my objective ! I was just looking for a breath of fresh air, a way to get away from it all. I tried my hand at several media, such as painting, until I discovered that only sculpture truly allowed me to escape. I started pottery from scratch in 2001 and it has not left me since. Only 15 years later did I have my first art exhibit !” she then goes on to say "when you have your hands dipped in clay, you can't think of anything else".

She began taking classes in a workshop and quickly after set up her own workshop at home. Sculpting has become a part of her life, despite relocating several times around the world - Guyana, Africa, Martinique, Canada ... In each new city she settled in, she looked for communal workshops and always set up a personal work space at home. "I enjoy and need the ambiance of collective workshops because of the gatherings and the sharing of expertise and advice.” She remembers her first teacher who, over a period of 6 months, made her break all her creations, in order to verify their quality, and thus instilling in her the required technical threads she needed, or on the contrary, teaching her how to “let go”...

She started off making dishes in order to acquire sufficient techniques, but Fabienne Peretti then turned to sculpting figures. Inspired by Botero or Nicky de Saint Phalle whose works she admires, and "African mamas" who once surrounded her, her earlier figures were quite voluptuous. But she explains : "It was too easy. First of all, it gave me the impression of “déjà vu”, therefore easy in terms of sculpting. It was equally too easy technically. I wanted more details, more finesse".

That's how "Firmin" came to be... Her very first elongated, very cartoon-like slouched silhouette, with a naif-style face, simple attire and messy “I just got out of bed” hair. The first of a now long series, always in ceramics, or more precisely in white chamotte clay, enamel and glaze. Her friends and family convinced her to show them in galleries, so she did. And it was an immediate success!

But also recognizable by what her characters exude and what Fabienne endows each of them with: their very endearing character, a kind of phlegm, real simplicity, a kind of "loose" attitude as Fabienne says. None of them are ostentatious or flashy; they are not pretentious. They all have this lightness of being. Most of them have a small belly and are slightly slouched with their hands in their pockets. We feel what their take on life is, or should I say, their take on us : benevolent and gentle, without any judgements, and in my opinion, with a sort of questioning. Like a confidant whose mission is to listen to his/her friend. It’s no wonder we become attached !

Men and women, with varied yet always loose and comfortable clothing.

Occasionally, however, Fabienne Peretti will endow them with discreet accessories which refer to a celebrity or pay a tribute to a painter ("because I love painting" says Fabienne), giving them a particular "identity"; her sculptures have this universal humane quality in the sense that they resemble each and every one of us. Fabienne always gives them an old-fashioned name... Firmin, Gontrand, Barnabé, Madeleine or even Aglaé. Even the "Girl with a pearl earring", whom you will easily recognize, is named Lison...