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…
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 I document myself a lot before starting a project, using photographs, historical documents, confrontation with my real environment, stay in a museum, etc.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.
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.
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