Man & Nature 

The new series “L’homme, miroir de la nature” (man, mirror of nature), reveals a quest for new means of expression, new signs, while maintaining continuity with the previous work

Continuity in the choice of materials, as found objects are still being used for purposes beyond their original functions, as symbols and pure concepts: pitchforks, zinc flowerpots, glass cloches, broom heads, wood shavings… All these shapes and materials, with which Nathalie Decoster loves to play, express both reality and abstraction.

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Continuity in the fundamental ambivalence, between serenity and anxiety in the face of human destiny. Most of Nathalie Decoster’s sculptures reflect the duality of life and offer us several readings, from joy to sadness, from fear to hope. Some will see in “Temps de moisson” the Grim Reaper holding tiny humans on his spikes. But this work also reminds us of the ripening of things, the fulfilment of man in harmony with nature, working the fields and accepting the cycles of nature. Similarly, the very moving “Nid d’êtres” shows a coupleof humans pathetically united in their little world of branches, both strong and fragile, together and all alone.

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Continuity in the quest for simplicity and the urge to refine. Ideas, emotions, questions which must be immediately legible, in a line, a stem, a visual find. It’s up to us to interpret these extremely simplified signs. Matisse said : “An artist’s importance is measured by the quantity of new signs he has introduced into the language of plastic arts…”

Nathalie Decoster’s work is indeed punctuated with signs which are hers and hers alone. One of them is almost like a word in a poetic language. Her little man stubbornly persists in walking along the tightrope of time, building his destiny, although he must contend with the cycle of life and death, the forces of nature, and other men.