INTERVIEW WITH CAROLE DOUCHY

Carole Douchy introduces her creations: wonderful wicker-bow nets which enclose beautiful and colourful creatures...

Carole, how did you come-up with the idea of the wicker-bow nets?

C.D.: When I was a student at the « Ecole Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs », we worked for one entire year on the concept of « living sculpture ». During this time I undertook some research into the concept of "cocoons" which in-turn led to the story of weaver nets. A few years ago, as I was starting to work as an illustrator, these ideas resurfaced as I began to incorporate them into my sketches and drawings.

What kind of messages do the wicker-bow nets convey?

C.D.: The nets work a bit like a "dream trap": they catch and tell a story. In a wink, they convey that story - a little frog in the palm of a child's hands, a great adventure, a dive into the abyss, an undulating and phosphorescent creature coming from another world.

When I was a child, time used to stop when I was looking at the deck of a ship in a bottle... I would like inside and imagine a storm or a whale leaving the bottle and crossing my apartment. Whether you decide to put the wicker-bow net on a desk or hang it in the room, I hope that it will invite you to stop time for a little while and imagine.

How do you get inspired? 

C.D.: I live and work very close to the Museum of Natural History in Paris. I find there an unlimited resource for inspiration. It is another world. Walking around with my partner and my daughter: we can have a chat with the frogs at the botanical garden, go hunting Mammoth (or diplodocus) at the gallery of paleontology, have a muffled walk in the dark ambiance of the butterfly collection in the gallery of evolution, go caving in the mineralogy gallery... I never get tired of the thousand and one shapes, colours and patterns deployed by nature.

I also snoop around flea markets, attics, antiques and old curiosity shops, and all the places where you usually find unique objects... and dust!
 
Finally, I feel very close to the strange shapes that we often find in design and contemporary art. I am especially inspired by artists like Jaime Hayon and Sarah Sze, but there are many others too!

Please click here if you would like to see Carole's wicker-bow nets >>>