Mystical forests meet cavernous classical interiors in Eva Jospin’s cardboard sculptures — Colossal



Art

#architecture #cardboard #Eva Jospin #sculpture #textile

In the hands of Eva Jospin, humble cartoons are transformed into atmospheric forests, architectural marvels and mysterious monuments. For more than a decade, the Paris-based artist has explored the possibilities of undulating material, layering it to create solid pieces that can be sculpted to reveal detailed landscapes and interiors. In his personal exhibition Sheets TO Mariane Ibhrahiman immersive, site-specific installation challenges notions of scale, while a series of three-dimensional drawings and pieces expand the possibilities of paper with the addition of tapestries in bronze and silk.

Measuring nearly 20 feet in length, « Gallery » creates a portal or doorway with an ornate coffered ceiling, flanked by niches — or perhaps windows — that reveal woodland scenes, woven fabrics, and small designs. The entrance, lined with trees and textures reminiscent of rough marble, invites viewers through a mystical arch. And in « Grotte, » a roughly carved architectural niche or apse dotted with trinkets such as shells and string suggests a grotto, a cavern that is often associated with religious devotion and a place to gather sacred objects.

“Grotte” (2023), cardboard, brass and shells, 27 1/2 x 27 1/2 x 19 3/4 inches

Jospin invokes the classical style often associated with historical significance and influence, from ancient ruins to cultural institutions to cathedrals, questioning notions of power and importance. The title, French for « follies, » references the 18th-century European tradition of building extravagant structures purely for decoration, often inspired by crumbling Roman temples or medieval castles. (Marie Antoinette famously commissioned a whole rural village in the gardens of the Trianon of Versailles.)

Jospin explores the intersections between nature and the handmade through meticulously sculpted tree branches, stone outcrops and refined surfaces. Using industrial and everyday materials such as cardboard, often used temporarily and then discarded, he examines the relationships between the everyday and the sacred, fragility and resilience, the ephemeral and permanence.

Sheets continues until September 9 in Mexico City. Find out more about Mariane Ibhrahim website.

Detail of the « Grotte »

“2 Forêts” (2023), cardboard and wood, 37 x 109 1/2 x 11 3/4 inches

“Black Forest” (2019), bronze, 30 3/4 x 27 1/8 x 5 7/8 inches

Left: Detail of “2 Forests”. Right: Detail of the “Black Forest”

Interior of the « Gallery »

Detail of the “Gallery”

Left: Detail of the ceiling of the “Gallery”. Right: « Gallery » texture detail

#architecture #cardboard #Eva Jospin #sculpture #textile

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