Candleholder in sandstone and bronze enamel

Fragility and delicacy emanate from a raw material, where strength and vigor combine to form the singular work of Claire Pain. Modelled with colombin or plaque, her one-off pieces, sometimes worked in series, explore the tension between these opposites, which combine to create a strong, sensitive work. Her influences are numerous, from the highly graphic work of Bernd and Hilla Becher to Brutalist architecture characterized by the use of raw materials. His works are worked like sculptures, revealing the grain, the material, the rough texture and the traces of the gesture of his hands, the slow, lively work in the earth. Occasionally, she adds motifs, essentially her signature polka dots or stripes. Since 2018, she has been working on an organic reinterpretation of the basket. All this slow reflection gives rise to works in which all these ambivalences find their rightness, making for a vibrant, living work.