Oui Design! Résonance: Demonstrations and Reception

Born in 1995, cabinetmaker and sculptor Maxime Bellaunay narrates the landscape through his work. Drawing inspiration from his travels between France and Japan, he extracts materials, colors, and textures, which he translates into his creations, including furniture pieces or sculptural works.

Using a spontaneous approach, materials influence the design of his objects.  Guided by the irregularities of rock, the organic patterns of wood, or the subtleties of metal, he initiates an instinctive dialogue with his materials, sculpting raw, singular landscapes.

Trained in cabinetmaking and then lacquer and varnish at the École Boulle, his background has given him technical expertise and an openness to materials, enabling him to explore other materials such as stone and metal. By working with other craftsmen, he refines his skills and now builds a distinctive craftsmanship between cabinetmaking and sculpture.

Having obtained a CAP in cabinetmaking, followed by a Brevet des Métiers d’Art (BMA) and a Diplôme des Métiers d’Art (DMA), Jean-Brieuc Chevalier decided to set up his own workshop in 2012. Based in Angers, France, the Jean-Brieuc workshop comprises of five members who, collaborating with designers, architects, and craftspeople, deliver a wide variety of projects featuring different métiers d’art. The fusion of multiple crafts has led them to develop a unique technique: combining cabinetmaking and sewing, the workshop has developed a wood embroidery technique that can be used to create original furniture pieces and decorations.

Jean-Brieuc’s clients include luxury brands such as Christofle, Louis Vuitton, Cartier as well as the Orient Express.

Starting her career in Paris as a fashion designer trained by LISAA school, Maud Ruby soon developed a special interest in textiles and accessories.

Over the years, as a feather designer and milliner, she has worked for some of the most renowned Parisian craft houses like Maison Lemarié, Mad studio, and Sandrine Bourg, as well as ready-to-wear and couture houses like Givenchy, The Row, Dries Van Noten, and Ralph Lauren.

Seven years ago, Maud opened her own workshop in Paris, Place de la Nation, dedicated to feather design and millinery. The hybridization of materials as well as of techniques, particularly interests her, bringing her to mix feathers with other elements such as metal, wood, and embroidery. Always on the lookout for new techniques, she has recently trained in the crafting of artificial flowers, and now offers a new floral adornment service.

Lucie Touré is a French craftswoman and textile designer who lives and works in Paris. With a degree in embroidery from l’École Duperré as well as a Master’s degree in textile and texture design from l’École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, she honed her skills for six years in embroidery and fabric printing ateliers in Paris. After working with prestigious ready-to-wear brands and high fashion houses, she opened her own studio in 2018, so she could focus on applying her textile expertise to paper.

Her creative vision is driven by handmade techniques combined with standards which grant preciousness and delicacy to paper. She slices up, weaves together, and embroiders paper to enhance its look, opening up an array of new uses. Her creations (from single piece to bigger volume productions) are designed primarily for the luxury sector: interior design, window display, set design, and packaging.

Lucie has been awarded with several prizes that celebrate excellence in craftsmanship, including the Tour Eiffel Design Award in 2019 and the Grand Prix de la Création de la ville de Paris in 2021. She also received the official support of The Banque Populaire Foundation in 2019 and 2020.

Born from the encounter between Raphaël Cuevas and Line Pierron in 2019, the studio Line & Raphaël combines their unique savoir-faire and expertise to offer both private and professional customers tailor-made interior design concepts as well as furniture and decorative objects.

Born in 1994, Raphaël Cuevas is a craftsman with a degree in carpentry and cabinetmaking. Developing a passion for wood early on, in 2018, he founded Maison Raphaël, dedicated to the manufacture of tailor-made fittings and unique pieces or limited-edition series of furniture.

Born in 1978, Line graduated in Product Design from the École Supérieure d’Art et de Design (ESAD) in Reims, France. A designer, Line is also passionate about 3D printing. She already ran her brand of decorative accessories, Imprime moi un mouton, a nod to Saint-Exupéry, to highlight impossible-to-manufacture shapes that she managed to print.

Combining design, artisanal know-how, and new technologies, the Line and Raphaël studio conceives and handcrafts 3D marquetry furniture and ornaments with a futuristic and innovative design. “Marquetry is an ancient technique, but our approach is very new,” explains Raphaël. “We moved it from 2D to 3D, in volume, with more complex shapes. Our furniture is like relief paintings. Since then, we have created unique pieces for individual clients or professionals. We hand-manufacture each piece in our workshop. Once the pattern is established, Line codes everything to perform digital cutting, which saves time and allows us to duplicate the patterns.” “3D liberates drawing,” says Line. “It is a field of all possibilities. We still have so much to explore with it!”

Born in 2002, Joseph Arzoumanov-Dhedin is a French artist whose work brings crafts such as gold embroidery and jewelry up against emerging technologies. Spending part of his childhood in Casablanca, Morocco, and taking embroidery masterclasses in Uzbekistan and Armenia, Arzoumanov-Dhedin has always been prone to exploration, finding constant inspiration for his craftmanship. The same curiosity has encouraged him to explore the world of emerging technologies, which he seeks to understand and interrogate in his work. Within the domain of jewelry, he creates complex structures using 3D modeling and printing and subsequently coats the resulting forms in embroidery and gold leaf.

He recently placed second in the “Youngest Talented Gold Embroiderer” category of the 2022 International Festival of Gold Embroidery and Jewelry. His work has been exhibited internationally, namely at the House of Artisans in Abu Dhabi; the Zar Festival in Bukhara, Uzbekistan; and the Château de Malmaison and Petit Palais in the Paris region.

As part of his Villa Albertine residency project in Boston, made possible thanks to the support of the Bettencourt -Schueller Foundation, Arzoumanov-Dhedin will be researching themes related to emerging technologies, particularly 3D printing, as well as the place of crafts and specifically embroidery in the world of tomorrow. As one of the top research hubs for cutting-edge technology, with numerous renowned universities and institutes, such as the MIT Media Lab, Boston stands as the ideal context to discover new perspectives on the hybridization of textile techniques combined with new technology, from AI and VR to motion and object recognition.