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Biography
Suzanne started her carrier in show business – dance and theater costumes (Joseph Nadj), stage design, textile art, rock band merchandising (Burning Heads) – but decided in 2001 to create for herself, and choose to have a mosaic apprenticeship. « I was keen on trying many shapes of art expression, but I had to choose and eventually opted for training as a mosaist. It didn’t close the door on other artistic fields, but on the contrary it gave me the necessary skills and knowledge to have many opportunities » « I learned from two mosaic masters, Antoine De Crozé and Verdiano Marzi, in order to acquire as knowledge as possible within two years and to be guided by two different perspectives on the same expression. » She started her apprenticeship with the basics, by producing copies of Roman mosaics and cutting marble tiles. So she learned how to build the “Mosaic Picture” and to create the motions and the rythms named andamento in Italian, the tessera walk , which would slowly become her own way. The mosaic allows mixing materials (stones, tiles…) and aspects (smooth, coarse, shiny, matt, transparency, opacity…). Cutting materials is a first transformation and leads to Make the stone fluid and draw with it , but Suzanne wanted to push the limits of the blend and decided to add the wood to her work. The transformation of materials appears to be the starting point of her inspiration, making her current work an original mix of Vegetable and Mineral . « That wood turned into stone, petrified wood, it’s fabulous! It is the circle of life going on » Each creation begins with a piece of wood. The artist models it, let herself be guided by its shape and implements a new story in it – A mineral one . « I bring old beams to live. Wood keeps the power and the symbol of the tree, even when it is cut. And no one is indifferent to it. » That is the way sculptures, totems and pictures take shape, always covered by lines – like life lines – and with the emotional power of colors. « Suzanne RIPPE combines the poetry of lines with her skills, which allows her to tackle the hazards of wood and stone with lightness. » (Denis Pugnère, sculptor)
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