Mary M. Payne: Karine Benvenuti: ceramicist/sculpltor

Karine is an artist after my own heart. If I weren't so wayward I am sure we would see each other more often.

For her artist's biography let me begin by stating that Karine was born in Marseille in 1959, lived for some years in Canada , then Paris and has now settled to work and live in the South of France.

When I met Karine and Olivier as a couple, they were living in a small village outside of Nice and Karine had already begun the study of ceramics. But for the last ten years her work has gone from strength to strength and she is now creating unusual and powerful works in clay.

Karine started with a classical education, learned to work the ceramicist wheel, then left both traditional worlds behind to throw herself into an art form which is becoming a fresh statement of our times... that of contemporary sculpting of earth, of clay. You could say that she works the soil of France like her French forbears.

It is certain that Ms Benvenuti's art is influenced by nature which creates for me a primordial attraction to it. She starts with nature's panoply of clay soils( some very difficult to come by), and searches out the hidden secret in each... its foibles and its hidden offerings.

Karine invents tools and methods, often using just the force of her own body to pummel the clay towards or against its natural inclinations. The results are a variety of shapes and forms whose textures call out to be caressed and explored.

There is a noted subtlety of glazes and enamels in the work. My guess is that the art is even more about the tending of the fires; the movement and gesture of creation; the conflict between artist and clay. With most abstract artists one starts out with an idea of where you want to go but the material may say otherwise. I imagine it's that way with the material of earth.

Karine was awarded the prize of the Ateliers d'art de FRance for her oeuvre, Matrice, at the International Biennale of the nearby village of Vallauris a few years back.

The large sculptures of Karine Benvenuti ( and some of her smaller objects) can be seen at l'Ancienne Poste Gallery, (an hour an a half outside of Paris) which specializes in contemporary ceramics. . http://galerie-ancienne-poste.com/en/ You can also visit her website at http://karinebenvenuti.com/ for more information and some fine photos.

And for those who would like to own a smaller piece , Karine has some of those works available at her studio in Contes. These include porcelain tea and coffee bowls and a line of neck pieces on ropes ( I hesitate to call them necklaces).

My coffee bowl photo by Mary M Payne

I use a Karine Benvenuti coffee mug in the mornings. Monsieur, aficionado of rare green teas, has two small tea cups of Karine's of which he is quite fond. I also own a small Benvenuti piece that reminds me of all the elements of earth.