Rencontre à la Biennale des métiers d’art et du bois

Noellie NIOULOU is a wood carver The Chair-God, specializing in the sculpture of instrument heads, she reveals her inspirations and little creative secrets to us, on the occasion of the biennale.

I work most of the time in collaboration with luthiers, except for the manufacture of cabrette "heads" where I am completely independent. Sometimes, in connection with my initial training, I produce on demand wooden sculptures for bas-reliefs or purely decorative pieces in the round…

Bass viol head in maple (Atelier Noëllie Nioulou)
Bass viol head in maple (Atelier Noëllie Nioulou)

The sources of inspiration are diverse

Sometimes clients contact me with a very specific idea of ​​what they want. I therefore sometimes have precise iconographic documents at my disposal, or models of old “heads” that already exist. If the sponsors have an idea but no models, I offer them my interpretation in the form of a clay or plasticine model. I document myself a lot before starting a project, using photographs, historical documents, confrontation with my real environment, stay in a museum, etc. And that even outside of my work time. I have developed, through my job, a sharp and sensitive look at my environment and the attention I pay to my surroundings will feed both my imagination and my quality of modelling. The room for improvement is infinite.  

 This is when I let my imagination develop, most of the time a very precise image forms in my mind. It is this mental image that I will transpose directly into three dimensions using modelling. Once the modeling is finished and validated, I rarely leave anything to chance. Indeed this pre-sculpture will serve me as a model. I will constantly refer to it throughout the realization of the wooden sculpture.

I also sometimes create models only from my imagination. For example, I developed the heads of viola da gambas or cabrettes around the hands, a part of the human anatomy that fascinates me. 

Exclusively artisanal woodworking

All my sculptures are made only by hand using sharp tools: axes, gouges, chisels, knives etc. 

Ram's head (Atelier Noëllie Nioulou)

Once the sculpture is finished, the head of the viola da gamba, or hurdy-gurdy or violin etc. is sent to the luthier so that the part is integrated into the rest of the instrument. 

Cat's head for a cabrette (Atelier Noëllie Nioulou)
Cat's head for a cabrette (Atelier Noëllie Nioulou)

Noëllie NIOULOU is also a cellist and violinist in the traditional music of the Massif-Central. It will offer musical interludes on the occasion of the biennale.

Discover all his creations: https://noellienioulou.wixsite.com/atelier/gallerie

Pipe with knot (Atelier Noëllie Nioulou)
This is not a pipe… Knotted pipe (Atelier Noëllie Nioulou)