A Cat - Naive cubism research

This sculpture reduces the cat to essential geometric volumes—a stable columnar body supporting an angular triangular head with a single circular opening suggesting eye or aperture. The work combines cubist simplification with minimalist restraint, maintaining just enough detail for recognition while pushing toward formal abstraction. No decorative surface, no anatomical modeling. Just volume, angle, and the minimum necessary for legibility.

The piece uses ancestral ceramic techniques: terre petite charmotte (grogged clay) for structural stability, brou de noix (walnut stain) for the warm brown-orange surface coloration, and cire d'abeille (beeswax) as protective finish. Two distinct clay bodies create the dramatic color contrast between stained and natural fired surfaces. These are traditional materials and methods—clay, fire, walnut, wax—executed with minimalist directness.

At 11×10×27 cm, the sculpture balances between object and presence. Small enough to hold, substantial enough to read as sculpture rather than maquette. Created in 2024 at Profils et Reliefs workshop in Paris under master ceramicist Isis Gondoin.