Jules Lobgeois
What’s your name and where are you from/based?
My name is Jules Lobgeois. I live and work in Normandy in Le Pays d’Ouche, an agricultural region bordered by forests not far from Perche and Calvados.
Can you describe your practice in a few words?
My sculpting practice is characterized by a search for cohesion between materials that are complete opposites. An alliance between lightness and density.
How did design first enter your life?
Since childhood, I have always been passionate about drawing, especially cars. It was this passion for the search for harmonious and fluid lines, which is at the heart of automotive design, that opened the door to design in general for me.
What led you from industrial design to sculpting objects?
Discovering materials gradually drew me away from industrial design and toward shaping them. And it was when I met Belgian artist Kaspar Hamacher and worked for him that my passion for sculpture was born.
After working with both a metalworker and a cabinetmaker, you developed a deep connection to metal and wood. What fascinates you most about working with each?
I am passionate about woodworking because of its comprehensive and complete dimension. It is a way of life. Searching for wood, selecting it, transporting it, and storing it. Waiting several years then discovering what it contains : its nuances and flaws. Revealing it.
Working with metal is very different. Its rigidity and the precision required to work with it make it a complicated material to transform. But it is this difficulty in giving it a sculptural dimension that makes it an interesting material to work with.
Do you remember the moment you realized this combination would become part of your design aesthetic?
It was when I created the first “Duramen” in 2021 that I felt for the first time that I had achieved the combination of wood and metal that I wanted to develop in my future creations.
You use wood from fallen trees that you save and “waiting for the right moment” to use. What do you wait for?
I believe that every fallen tree has the perfect moment to reveal what it holds inside. So I wait until I have a project that fits perfectly before working on a piece of wood.
Outside of your practice, how important is the environment you surround yourself with?
Since moving to Normandy, where I bought a workshop and a traditional Norman house that I am renovating, as well as a large plot of land that I am landscaping by planting trees, I have realized that being close to this environment has become essential to me.
Working primarily with metal and wood, would you ever see yourself going beyond these into other materials?
I would very much like to work with stone. It is a material that fascinates me because of its hardness and durability. I would like to combine it with wood and metal to create pieces using three materials.
I also plan to develop my foundry skills. I have already made silver wedding rings, but I would like to think bigger and work with brass or bronze combined with wood. I would like to discover a way to combine these materials that are so different from each other.
Where can people find you?
You can follow my work on Instagram and on my website. I regularly exhibit with La Lune gallery
