I discovered Emmanuelle Duval’s work – under the name of EMA – during an event in Nantes entitled «L’Art est aux Nefs». I have been immediately attracted by the subtlety and precision of her pieces, mainly in paper. Her artistic practice is not her main professional activity, it is a passion and it is part of her life by hook or by crook. For more than three years, EMA have been starting to show her pieces, to the delight of all.
Could you please introduce yourself?
I am rather fanciful, creative and I like exoticism. It allows me to play with a reality whiwh is sometimes too dense. For a long time, I have been looking at things differently, upside down, I interprete them in a new way. Therefore, daily situations become really interesting and peculiar materials.
© O. Leprovost
How would you define your creative universe?
An abstract and contemporary universe embedded in a fantasy but still familiar: a reminiscence of travels, an object that is loved and repaired, a confusing déjà vu. Indeed, we could have been mistaken and see utilitarian or cult object from elsewhere but these pieces are not for a specific use. It is just an interpretation, intuitions taking shapes. It is also a way to avoid several too obvious shapes to escape the meaning we would like to give them. The spirit should be confused. I prefer to evoke than to represent, it leaves more mystery and options.
Where does the name ‘EMA’ comes from?
It is simply a nickname, my firstname is ‘Emmanuelle’.
© O. Leprovost
When and how have you decided to launch your activity?
It is neither my main gainful activity nor a leisure, it has just been part of my daily life for a long time. However, I have only been showing my work for three years.
© B. Cneude
What is your background?
I obtained a degree in Spanish and I studied at the Fine Arts School during two years. I also studied at the AFPA in metalwork because I am interested in this material. Finally, I was also trained at DTP just because I needed to earn a living. Regarding my artistic activity, I have painted for a long time before starting to make pieces I could bring everywhere such as embroidery, etc. I like to use quite simple and light materials.
When have you created your first piece? What was this piece?
It is hard to date my first piece because I have been working on pieces for a very long time. I can probably consider that we are talking about this piece as the most legitimate and triggering element of my recent production. ‘Traffic’ is an installation produced three years ago in collaboration with Olivier Ragaux regarding moving parts. It has been exhibited for the first time in Nantes in the showcase of a designer called Mel de Margo, then it traveled to different places (Albane Gallery, Lunettes ETC…in Nantes) and it was exhibited in Paris by a jewellery called Jonas Bowman.
Thanks to a pulley system, units composed of folded and sewn papers move vertically, letting passers by imagination run free. Some people will see a weaving machine, others would like to hear sound from it.
© B. Cneude
How does your creative process work?
It is an empirical gropingly process. It is rarely a clear evidence or a kind of revelation. It needs time and experiment. This step is necessary to increase my understanding of a material: how can I play out with its constraints or, on the contrary, take best advantage of it?
I rarely have a precise idea for an installation, the piece is produced thanks to experiment, movement and a nomadic spirit. By nomadic, I mean that every progress, constraint and happy coincidence can develop the piece in a new direction. I accept it and/or I find a compromise, it also allows me to be spontaneous and flexible in my work.
Generally, an overall picture will emerge from a detail, and not the opposite. My ideas often materialize in the form of small assemblies, a long and meticulous craft that I pin on the wall as if I was doodling on a tablecloth. It is slightly like an eruption.
© O. Leprovost
© O. Leprovost
Where does your inspiration come from?
I am inspired by daily acts I care about and by my ability to distort things and to be amazed. Inspiration comes from an urgency to run away from a sometimes too reasonable reality. I am attracted by the beauty of trivial things, I dwell on a plastic brush, on a face down carpet, on dressings we put on broken objects to fix it (tape, wooden stand, bracings…) and on all the temporary urban installations (covered walls, an empty billboard with visible neon lights, vamped packagings…). These universes are inspiring because of what they show and because of the used materials and/or selected assemblies.
To read the next part : EMA – 2/3 Know-how
© B. Cneude
Photos : © EMA except when these mentions appear : © B. Cneude et © O. Leprevost . Photographs provided by Emmanuelle Duval and published with her approval.
