Céline Salomon
About the Resident
French Resident
Feb. 21 – April 21, 2024
Ceramist and Product Designer
Design resident Céline Salomon is a French ceramic designer. After graduating in architecture in 2013, she made a change of scale a few years later by training in porcelain, notably during a long two-year stay in Jingdezhen, China. Upon her return, she set up her own studio and created a series of tableware pieces. Architecture and nature are the dual sources of inspiration for her work. As an explorer, she then challenged the quiet strength of ceramics by combining it with other raw materials. This new impulse resulted in unique pieces of furniture and lighting that were soon exhibited in Paris, London, New York and Basel.
As part of Villa Albertine residency program, with the support of Bettencourt Schueller Foundation
Residency Project
“My work for this residency starts with a simple question: how do architecture and nature meet and cohabitate in a city like New York?
Steered by my desire to delve ever deeper into the relationships between architecture and nature, the first part of my trip will involve an immersion in the city. I must explore the territory, steeping myself in this environment, this unique, multicultural melting pot, on a whole new scale for me.
One characteristic of New York that particularly inspires me is its typically American gridiron plan, all portioned out in blocks. This plan creates powerful perspectives for architecture, but requires that the often-constrained natural elements fit into the grid, which alternates between high-rises and parks. How does the living world—both humans and wildlife—evolve in this restricted, orthonormal environment? When we build cities first and green spots afterwards, what place is actually left to the latter?
Such over-densification also leads to a conquest of the sky, causing an exceptional concentration of skyscrapers, which themselves allow for an incredibly rich dialog of materials (between earth and metal, or glass and brick), textures, and colors. Where is the balancing point between fusion on the one hand and juxtaposition on the other; between natural and artificial?
The impressions that I gather will be used to create a new collection of objects, made in collaboration with a number of New York artisans, the holders of crafting expertise. Co-crafted in ceramics and glass, wood, paper, or leather, these objects will all reflect the ties between the animate and inanimate world, as well as our trans-Atlantic relationship and experiment.
I will also have the great opportunity to spend 5 days at the Corning Museum of Glass to create pieces that address this issue of urban and constrained nature. This work will combine glass and ceramics.”
Céline’s Experience
What was the most exciting and unexpected discovery?
CS: “It’s hard to choose one, as so much happened! I’d say 5 things really stood out for me:
– Wandering around, getting lost and discovering the different faces of New York at all hours, in all weathers, with my camera in my hands. The skyscrapers disappearing in the clouds and rain, the first blossoms in the parks, the incredible sunsets, people looking for a ray of sunlight in a freezing early morning, life reflecting in countless windows.
– My week at Corning, discovering glassblowing and my incredible exchanges with the teams of glassblowers on site. It was my first time experimenting with glass, and it was a defining moment in my residency.
– The Noguchi Museum, lost in Queens, with its very special atmosphere, made a deep impression on me. I had to go back several times, as it fuelled my curiosity but also imposed a real sense of calm and introspection, far away from the hustling tempo of the rest of the city.
– My meeting with ceramist Peter Lane, whose work and career I greatly admire, in his Bushwick studio. We talked for hours, and he introduced me to his team.
– The unique encounters with the artists I met in their studios, who took the time to explain their practices, their questions and their projects. It was always a unique experience, and I feel grateful to have met these people.”