MARC-ANTOINE GOULARD
2024
Marc-Antoine Goulard
French American artist, was born in Neuilly sur Seine, France, in 1964. Growing up in Paris, he began playing the flute at a young age and went on to train as a concert musician at the Conservatoire, where he graduated.
Goulard arrived in America in 1984 to take up the saxophone and continue his studies in jazz composition at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. However while music, with its foundation of tone and composition, provided him the means for expression, it would ultimately be in painting that Goulard found his creative voice.
"The Wave" is the result of a long work process combined with a childhood memory. Everything started as a child gazing at the waves in the Atlantic ocean. I was hypnotised with the perpetual surf and swell of the sea. I couldn’t get my eyes off this magnificent spectacle. Getting tipsy from it, I was then able to let my imagination and body float in levitation. With my ears under the water, I was just there: weightless, living in the moment, with a sense of freedom. All the models have the same source of inspiration.
To capture physically these moments into an object that reflects a feeling, has been challenging. After many drawings and models, I could not get close enough to the feeling I experienced from the sea. The inspiration was there, but I wasn’t able to express it. I then decided to stop trying and let go: to just be that child floating in the moving waves. A single line came along, with a piece of charcoal on my drawing pad. From that point, I was able to superpose another curve, each component (segment) supporting one another. That’s how "The Wave" collection was born.
Together the four elements become inseparable and cannot be dissociated. The gap between each line refers to space, air and oxygen. The intention is to have a sculpture which loses its sense of dimensions in a space, but fits in the habitat. Lying down, the person embodies the piece, bringing a warm feeling of being lifted and floating in the air. Every model are custom-made, size and material varies on the accordance of the environment.
Depending on the situation shades will vary as well. As an example: to add some red pigment in a charcoal patina will make the entire piece go from black to purple depending on the orientation of the sun and the seasons. Looking at it from different angles, the tone and perspective will constantly change.
