Olivier Fabrice Adam - Sculptor
Unit F1, 55 Wallis Road, London, E9 5LH, UK - olivierfadam@iCloud.com
I make poetic sculptures, intuitively made by hand, intertwining accessible materials such as lime, clay, sand, hemp, plants and found objects.
Ambiguity is the central theme of my work, with nature as a key contributor, and ambiguous loss a key driver.
Ambiguity, as the paradox of conflicting emotions and experiences, is the main theme of my work.
Such is the ambiguity of despair and hope, the ambiguity of chaos and order, the ambiguity of the human nature, and the ambiguity of nature.
In a world increasingly binary (Yes/No, Accept/Reject), I aim to expose minds to ambiguity, and cultivate open and adaptable minds; minds that understands that not everything is clear-cut, that human experience is complex, that contradictory experiences and emotions do coexist in an intertwined and dynamic relationship.
Nature is a key inspiration and contributor to my practice.
Sculpture and nature create a landscape of interweaved order and chaos. In a binary cultural landscape, we risk seeking peace only through order. However, spending time in nature teaches us that an inherently chaotic environment also brings peace.
As nature has a positive effect on my mental health, I, in return, make sculptures with a positive environmental impact.
Ambiguous loss is a key driver and educator.
It is an emotional space where hope and despair, presence and absence, coexists, making it difficult or impossible to find closure.
It teaches us to challenge outdated and damaging social norms pushing for closure, asking the mourner to get over their loss. The group is needed for the mourner to build resilience, and the group need to learn that closure is a myth, and the loss remain with us for life.
Resilience is then found not in closure, but in making our own meaning of the loss and actively remembering the missing.
Ambiguous loss teaches us tolerance for ambiguity, a spiritual acceptance of nature and the circle of life.
No closure, an eternal cycle
I worry about our throwaway society, easily discarding the past.
I worry about a culture that values mastery and productivity, where old age and death can feel as a failure.
I love creating art in contrast to today’s consumerism society, where the sculpture is the beginning of a new journey.
Accessible sculpture techniques and materials:
Sculpture is accessible to all, and through the use of simple materials that can be bought at builders merchants, or even found in your street, the message is that sculpting can be done on a very limited budget. In fact, baking a cake or bread is the earliest memory I have of sculpture, and to this day I still find great joy and peace when mixing and kneading of the ingredients.
Ambiguous Loss, Uncertainty and Unfinishedness:
More at ease with expressing physically, my artwork is my ongoing conversation with absent loved ones. The unfinishedness of the pieces embodies the loss and absence.
I am exploring the concept of Ambiguous Loss, by creating pieces that are mysterious, ambiguous, and living in a space where presence and absence coexist, despair and hope are in symbiosis. As I do through sculpture, I hope to inspire others to keep connections with absentees, instead of aiming for an unattainable closure.
I value ambiguity and uncertainty as keys to creative freedom, and diversity. Ambiguity is inherent to being human and my artwork promotes a culture of respect for ambiguity and diversity.