« And always, try to give to make dream. »
After a long career as surgeon stopped abruptly after a bad fall, Patrick Chaland is glass sculptor since 2011. Fascinated by the human body which he knows every meanders, the art of sculpture imposed itself on him as obvious, allowing him to overcome difficult challenges and reproduce in another form the meticulous gestures he practiced once daily in the operating room.
In 2008, he discovers the IARGVA (International Agency for Research on Glass and Visual Arts) and meets Olivier Fonderflick. Talented glass artist specialized in glass paste, he will teach him not only the glass foundry with lost wax but also enable him to create his first works.
Patrick Chaland is now convinced: the glass, « solid liquid » from the core of the Earth, palpable memory of the history of the Universe, is HIS favorite material. For this artist with the fine and precise fingers, glass – « glass paste » crystal or glass foundry – offers such an infinite range of possibilities! It seems to him the best-suited material to shape the feelings he wants to awaken in us, to touch « something fundamental » in us.
Fascinated and motivated by a thirst to learn, he trained in « total immersion » for four months in 2013 at the ERTCGA (European Research and Training Center for Glass Arts). Four months in total and intense happiness!
However, Patrick Chaland also works with other materials, such as terra cotta, resin, aluminium, HP concrete and bronze – with Bartholomew foundry and the Gavala foundry in Athens. Thus, it is in Greece that has emerged Nina’s sculpture – a nice aluminum Bulldog 2m high guarding the entrance of a veterinary clinic in Marseille. His curious and inventive nature pushes him to experiment new techniques.
If anatomy has no secrets for Patrick Chaland, his sculptures reflect this specialized knowledge, as shown by his women’s bodies with long thin legs, thoughtful busts, statues of animals worked in detail. Most of his pieces are explicitly symbolic, suggestive of thinking about the world, like « Darwin », « Comet », « Eternal Feminine », « TINA (« There Is No Alternative »), « Introspection », « Welcome » … Pieces which are beautiful to the sight and to touch, poetic, that make one think or dream.
According to Patrick Chaland, « sculpture is an undertaking of expression and seduction. »
In addition to its own creations, Patrick Chaland executes portraits and commands in different materials, always in accordance with the expectations of those who have entrusted their dreams or desires.
Since September 2014, Patrick Chaland has a new workshop at 49 Belle de Mai Street, in Marseille, 3rd district. You will have the opportunity to discover his works at Arcueil 33 Villa Modern from March, 27th to 29th 2015, in a group exhibition with Isabelle Girollet and Roland De Leu.
Discover Patrick Chaland’s universe and pieces on his official website (Available languages: English and German)
About Nina: Article in French only « Nina (Patrick Chaland Sculpteur) », published Sunday 29th September 2013, on the website « Marseille, ville sculptée » by Laurent Noet.
