BOISBUCHET RESIDENCY PROGRAMME
NATHALIE MATHOULIN
SEASON 2020
Nathalie Mathoulin is a Jewellery designer, based in London in the U.K. Intrigued by materials she finds during her travels, she collects pebbles, flints, stones, wood, shells, glass, ceramic, and plastic debris from the mountains, seas, oceans, and forests. She then transforms these raw materials into bespoke hand-made jewellery. The pieces are marked by erosion, worn away by the waves of the ocean, fossilised, splintered and broken by the natural passage of time. Nathalie does not interfere with that, but instead seeks to enhance it by the association and juxtaposition of her designs and the materials she uses, such as recycled and Fairtrade 18kt gold. As well as designing jewellery, Nathalie has also worked as a designer for Camper, as senior designer at Paul Smith Ltd (UK), and as a freelance stylist/designer for Castañer.
“It is very rare to find a place like Boisbuchet where you can experiment, develop, and find solutions”.
Taking inspiration from the nature of Boisbuchet, Nathalie enhanced the natural beauty and sculptural form of what she found around her through a process of association and artistic embellishment. On her morning and evening walks around the domain, she would collect stones, wood, insects, and lichen. She would then transform these pieces into jewelry by mixing and soldering them with different materials in the Boisbuchet workshop, such as copper and brass. She also used traditional jewelry techniques on nontraditional materials, whether it was having a diamond cut of a piece of oak, or sanding down driftwood so that it resembles a pearl. With access to the workshop, the facilities at Boisbuchet, and with the advice and support of the workshop technician, Nathalie was able to find solutions of what is possible and what is not. For the future, Nathalie will continue to develop the ideas and techniques she generated here at Boisbuchet, and use them to preserve the inherent beauty of nature in her jewelry designs.
“I didn’t have to bring anything with me, just my creativity.”