Textile sculpture & universal symbols 

​

And yet he had done things in order, following the "classic" route to become a painter, unlike many others for whom the profession of painter came about thanks to providence and the imagination of life. This is not the case of Jean-Christophe Belaud. He is not an autodidact with an atypical background. He always wanted to be an artist, he graduated in plastic arts from the University of Saint-Etienne and began to live from his paintings in 2006.

 

It was in 2009 that the big turning point took place. From this moment, he did not realize it yet, but he would become a carpet sculptor, an artist with a unique, innovative and admired technique!

We are in May, it is Sunday and it is raining. Jean-Christophe has just moved to Brussels, he is bored and comes across a piece of carpet he brought back from his old Parisian apartment. An amusing idea crosses his mind, that of making a warrior mask. A cutter, a stapler, some glue, and his childhood dream takes form. He also manages to find how to bring volume to his works. 

 

Since then, Jean-Christophe has continued to develop and refine his technique. He starts from a wooden base or just a metal leg and builds his structure from the inside out, without ever making any preliminary sketches and without ever really knowing where he is going. Between the influence of primitive arts, sacred geometry and science fiction, Jean-Christophe has built a very peculiar universe, with a technique and materials that are just as new. No wonder his work is featured on TV shows, high-end decorating magazines and regularly featured in the press.

 

Along with originality and technical virtuosity, we remain faced with elements that speak to us, that we understand. Jean-Christophe likes to mix the symbols that we all know, hearts, stars, hands, etc. The proportions are harmoniously respected according to the golden ratio and the carpet, an ordinary material, brings us back to a familiar proximity between us and the subject.

Therein lies all his talent, knowing how to bring together innovation, harmony and simplicity.