Japonaise Simple Ecran

When Chrystiane Charles sculpted her first Ginkgo in 1990, she recognised in the tree a mirror of bronze itself: a form that comes before us, outlives us, persists. The ginkgo is the oldest tree species on Earth, before bees, flowers, dinosaurs, and its fan-shaped leaf has stayed almost unchanged for 270 million years. Joëlle Fèvre gathers eight of them on the wall: eight bronze fans, laid flat and tiered, overlapping like the leaves fallen at the foot of the tree. Each radiating vein is chased as close as possible to the detail of its texture. No shade: the light is born at the base of the leaves, backlights the gilt bronze and lays its halo on the wall.