English

-2018

Isabelle Dethier has studied in several European countries,has worked in a variety of materials; metal, paper, card, stone (alabaster) wood….and different artistic expressions.Yet throughout her work runs a theme of remarkable consistency: the inspiration from the abstraction of natural forms and their organic development. Plants are her main source; leaves and shoots, unfurling buds, calyx and petals, bursting seed pods, but she also observes the insect world and even fossils.

This influence is in no sense a straightforward copying of the materials she finds in nature, nor does it imply domestic charm or sentimentality.This is powerful work; pieces are large, and though, the idea may be rooted in the tender curl of a fern frond or flower bud, we are always reminded that these buds force themselves up from the depths of the earth, contain latent energy and burst into life.

Yet besides strength, this work has grace. Here are no angular forms which jar; the leaf may be magnified many times and ripple and tower over us, but the form remains enough of its organic character to connect with the human dimension and invoke a sympathetic response in the viewer.Nor is this sculpture simply the working of ideas - even if the symbiosis between man and nature lies at its heart.

Unfashionably, but in the classic tradition, Isabelle Dethier explores her different materials for the qualities inherent in each and pushes them to the limit of what is possible. Massive trunks of wood are carved directly with power tools or forms are built up from multiple layers of wood glued together, worked and polished to exploit the wandering grain and subtle shifts of colour, sheen and texture.

Alabaster shines in fragile translucent winged petals, sometimes highly polished, sometimes revealing its brittle crystalline structure; or it curls in on itself in comfortingly rounded solidity.Cut paper forms are stacked, to twist and fan out; riveted metal speak of the armourer's skills as the beetle's carapace.Her photographic work is an end in itself. Intensely observed and magnified details of familiar material-leaves, stamens, bark, moss- become abstract patterns or takes on a new and somewhat disturbing significance, as they open up a fresh approach to the natural world. As the photographs show, these works are seen to best advantage in a woodland setting, where the organic forms complement the surrounding vegetation and seem to spring with their own life from the ground.

Yet in any space these are sculptures which offer beauty, an aesthetic appeal in forms and textures-but they also quietly challenge us to re-examine our own relationship with the minutiae of the environment that we tend to take for granted.

Ros Falvey.

Curriculum:

Home: Belgium

Born in Great Britain the 30th of décember 1958 in Weybridge Surrey

Artistic studies :

- 1978 to 1979 - West Surrey College of Art and Design in England.

- 1979 to 1982 Sussex University-Brighton England Polytechnic. 3D:W.M.C.P. (wood,metal,plastics ceramics..etc...) .
Degree: Bachelor of Arts with (Honours).

- 1983 - Università di Firenze.

University of Florence, Italy

Italian and Art history Diploma " Cum Laude "

- Since 1983, has carried out a series of studies in art and design in different european countries. Isabelle has exhibited her research and artwork in varied materials and designs on many occasions.

- 1997 Resident and domiciled in Belgium

A short summary of her recent exhibitions in Belgium:

- 2001- Third Biennale for Walloon Brabant artists (group exhibition)

- 2001-Fondation for Belgian Contemporary Art (group exhibition)

- 2003- " Flood Tide "- Exhibition together with the Belgian painter Dominiq Fournal at the Salle Saint-Georges in Mons

- 2004- Exhibition at the Juvénal gallery (- Fondation Bolly-Charlier) in Huy together with the painter Dominiq Fournal ( a different concept from the previous "Flood Tide" exhibition)

- 2005-"A travers bois" at the Monos Gallery in Liège, Belgium

- 2005 - 6th biennale of Brabant Wallon sculpture in Wavre (group exhibition)

- 2006-"Vorm en inhoud in houd "MONUMENTAL" vzw, Bornem

- 2007:"Au Bois" Ferme Rose, Uccle -Brussels; together with Ladislas de Monge and Bernard Tirtiaux for the "Lakasbl"

- 2007, Two solo exhibitions in september/octobre:

- Patrick Marchal Gallery -Brussels

- "Galerie 18plus 1" Brussels

- 2008 Spring: Commission for Teintelecom Monumental Sculpture for Tein's main hallway.

- 2008 December -Tein Telecom-: Event for the inauguration of the new buildings

- 2010 in April / May: group inauguration show at LKFF Gallery, Brussels "Agop - Beaumont - Dana - Dethier "

- 2010 May / June : Solo exhibition "Sculptures & Engravings" at "Le Palace" Ath Cultural Center , Belgium
- 2010 September 10th - October 16th : Solo exhibition at the LKFF Gallery Brussels Belgium-
- prolongation and different show same gallery LKFF from the 16th to the 30th of November 2010

- 2011 August 6th to 15th -Art Nocturne- 36th Art and Antiques Fair represented by LKFF Gallery

- 2011 September : Creation of the "Alumnus 2011" award

- 2012, 2013 private events and workshops and a dual exhibition with Isabelle de Vinck

- 2014 Exhibition Espace 119, Brussels together with Mercedes Hottat , Alain Lambillote , Caroll Gueudet and Fabrice Pierrot

- 2014 Exhibition at and with Geert Pattyn

- 2015 private exhibitions
-2018 host François Nef for Profonsart/ Limal art event

-2019 guest of honnor to the "Biennale de la Création "Atrium 57"- Centre Culturel de Gembloux set the theme of Quintessence & art commissioner

-2024 taken part of the Solarpunk exhibition , the 5th bienale of contemporary creations of Gembloux Belgium