Biographical information/Professional background
“The ochre-coloured strata of a clay cliff – The roughness of a rock, the traces of erosion – Small quartz crystals that line the walls of a cavity – The orderly drawing of cracks on the ground at the bottom of a dry lake….
The beauty of the rocks, the terracotta and their minerals have fascinated me since I was a child. I’m a potter. The terracotta is not only a raw material. It is an inexhaustible source of inspiration. I am as much a craftsman as I am a spectator. I witness the transformations of the material at each stage of the work: The first sensations are almost organic: At the beginning, the clay is supple and full of water. On the lathe, it is necessary to control its movement, to tame the terracotta and the centrifugal force. Then the terracotta gradually loses its moisture, it becomes firmer, to the touch, it gives the sensation of a skin. It is at this moment that I engrave my patterns by shearing the terracotta slightly soft ground. I draw lines, like scars, repetitive patterns that punctuate the surface of my pots and play with their silhouettes.
Dry clay is sandy and fragile. It will often take several firings, and sometimes enamel, metal oxides or smoking, for the stoneware to take on its final appearance
I am self-taught. I learned on my own. At first just a potter’s wheel, a few kilos of terracotta, perseverance and a lot of envy. I’ll learn all my life. Today, I regularly sacrifice the vocation of containers for aesthetic choices. My pots then have nothing more to contain, nothing more than a testimony: that of my love of the terracotta. »
For the past 4 years, Gregoire Lemaire has exhibited his ceramics in Paris and in the region. He also participated in the Ceramic Festival at the Jardin de la Genevraye in September 2018. He is exhibited in many French galleries. The French Arts Factory gallery represents him since 2018.
