About the Artists: Marion Delarue

The Gallery of Art in Legnica, pl. Katedralny 1

4 May – 31 July, 2021

Opening hours:

Tuesday - Sunday: 12:00 - 6:00 p.m.

Strangeness matters

Marion Delarue shows a great interest in the transition from one state to another, in transformations through metamorphosis or almost imperceptible evolutions. In particular, her work plays with the confusion between authenticity and imitation, between nature and artifice, referencing simulacrum, false pretences and lures.

Each piece approaches these notions differently; the factitious character of Cracheh, a traditional headdress half made up of someone else’s hair that one passes off as one’s own, or Exquisite Corpse, a work made of beads that mimic human flesh and evoke the stereotypical aspect of body modification through aesthetic surgery. Monsters for Company are snakes revealing obvious signs of their metamorphosis into imaginary creatures, while FengHuang tells of the conception and hybridisation of an “ornithological chimaera” regrouping several existing birds. The piece Sangtu presents a natural form of nacre which looks so sophisticated and so well suited to its use, that it seems to have been manufactured. Finally, Parrots Devotees deal with poultry birds posing as parrots, aiming to appropriate their attributes of beauty; and the Agate Jewels are fake stones made by replicating the natural process of an agate’s creation. The ambiguity of the pieces destabilises the viewer, questions their certitudes and provokes a feeling of strangeness.

Marion’s work on illusion, faux and the state of transition, as well as an ever-present reference to nature, requires a certain rigour in order to be convincing; the use of highly developed techniques combined with a in-depth savoir-faire is needed. Materials are precisely chosen according to each piece and a detailed research on manufacturing methods is systemically conducted.

Inspired by the bizarre, folklore and myths, Marion Delarue is enthralled by supposedly magical items. Her attachement to an imagination stemming from ceremonial body adornment is reflected in a constant body-related fascination. In this way, Marion’s pieces, through a real or symbolic relationship with the body, enriched by this input and compelled by this exigence, question unceasingly the very idea of wearability.

Marion Delarue was born in 1986 in France and lives in Paris. She studies at the Ecole Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs de Strasbourg (France), where she obtains a Master in Object, specialization Contemporary jewellery. After participating in artist in residencies in Poland, South Korea, China and Japan, Marion Delarue experiments all kind of materials. Fascinated by highly developed techniques, that she uses in a traditional or experimental way, Marion Delarue strives to bring together traditional savoir-faire (know-how) and contemporaneity; hand-crafted techniques and critical thinking.
Her work, exhibited in divers museums in Europe, Asia and North America, has allowed her to obtain international awards (Talente 2019, Françoise van den Bosch Young Talent 2018, European Triennial for Contemporary Jewellery 2017) and is part of public collections (Musée des Arts Décoratifs de Paris in France, Palazzo Cominelli in Italy, Stedelijk Museum in the Netherlands).

Agate jewels series

Blue Agate bracelet  bracelet, porcelain casting, glass casting, firing, slicing, polishing, porcelain, glass, glaze, fire-sand, 101 x 101 x 7 mm, 2012-2013

Parrot Devotees series

Parrot Devotee 1  shoulder brooch, chinese feather marquetry, natural feathers of pigeons, ducks and geese, rice paper pulp, silver, steel wire, 85 x 65 x 50 mm, 2016

Monsters for Company  pair of bracelets, handbuilt porcelain, korean black porcelain, 100 x 30 x 80 mm, 2013

Sangtus series

Sangtu  topknot ornament (for men), mother of pearl slicing, Korean natural lacquer painting and polishing, mother of pearl, Korean natural lacquer, magnets, 60 x 75 x 60 mm, 2019