Amulet
From my collection of objects relating to motion and travel; my favourite is an amulet from Vanuatu given to me by my friend, the filmmaker and ethnologist Marie-José Guigues. Many of the pieces acquired during her journeys through Oceania are now part of the permanent collection at Musée du quai Branly in Paris.
This amulet was traditionally given to departing travelers for auspicious protection, marking the start and safe conclusion of a journey. The elliptical line speaks to the continuity and flow of movement that I find echoed in one of my father's favorite sculptures, a piece which is now cast in bronze and part of my collection at Ralph Pucci.
Having recently completed a journey from my studio in Aix-en-Provence to New York the beauty and intended purpose of this amulet is all the more precious and resonant to me.
Paul Mathieu
Paul Mathieu’s furniture and lighting designs are like the man himself—unique with depth and style. The commonality of his designs, whether they are a bespoke creation or one of his collections, representations or licensees, are pure Paul Mathieu in their exquisite craftsmanship and aesthetic austerity fabricated from the finest materials and with innovative technology.
It is between Aix-en-Provence, New York, Murano and India that his work takes shape, where his drawings, are breathed into life in the workshops of master artisans. Immune to the epigonic constraints of industrial production, the sculptural and ingenious forms of Mathieu’s furniture and objects express a purity of dynamic vision.
Transcending fashion and shaped by his travels and encounters with cultures, he has developed an instantly recognizable signature style: graceful, fluid, and considered; hewn from rigorously selected materials; characterized by sensual and sculptural forms; evoking a natural harmony expressed through the highest standards of craftsmanship.
