Born in 1960 in Marseille, Claude Justamon lives and sculpts on the Ardèche highlands, a hostile environment, the scene of a windswept wilderness, yet out of reach of the hustle and bustle of the city. Both muse and source of inspiration, the artist draws on this raw strength to create delicate, soothing sculptures that are full of concerns and humanity.

Claude Justamon demonstrates great expertise: her original ceramics combine demanding techniques such as slab building, stamping, and Raku firing. This ancient Japanese glazing process is closely associated with Zen philosophy, a branch of Buddhism, and its message of peace becomes evident when one closely examines the artist’s work.

Devoid of artifice and superfluous ornamentation, his sculpting work is a quest for simplicity and a stripping away of excess, in the simple appreciation of the vital energy that flows within us. Through supple lines and balanced, gentle forms, the artist seems seems to be able of personifying the very essence of the human soul. The bronze edition, now allowing her to make her art more accessible, also carries a strong symbolism, enabling his work to be inscribed in eternity.

Her scupture in bronze take the form of transformed human representations: without a distinct gender, they seem to portray a new being, a symbol of universality that invites communion and fraternity.

Indeed, by emphasizing the fundamental similarities of our species, the sculptor also erases individual characteristics that have historically divided people: neither masculine nor feminine, neither Caucasian, African, nor Asian.

Furthermore, the initial material used is rich in symbolism: just as each bronze originates from an original clay, every human being is born from the same Earth. (“Man, remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” – The Bible, Moses)

While not losing sight of the plural dimension that constitutes the uniqueness of each individual, she aims to materialize both what connects and distinguishes us. Her features are delicate and pure, reflecting a kind of fragility that is inherent to us, as well as the brevity of human existence.

Evoking a disquieting silent unveiling, these sculptures serve as guides to our inner worlds. Their closed eyes seem, in reality, perceptive, and their tranquil postures, in openness to the world, invite us to both contemplative silence and introspective meditation. On the path to self-discovery, they show us the way, like a bridge connecting the soul and the flesh, a point of balance between the body and the mind.

It’s a reconciling serenity that reconnects the visitor to their inner self and, in doing so, brings people together, urging us to collectively write a more serene and harmonious future.

“To erase individuality to reveal a deeper personality, to erase all signs of identification to the point of almost achieving a harmony between the masculine and the feminine, a state of bareness, humility. To leave no trace of ornamentation on oneself in order to come closer to purity, to truth, this long inner journey…” – Claude Justamon