ARTI’VIEW by ARCHES® Violaine Fayolle: exploring her dreamlike, nature-inspired art
Violaine Fayolle at La Malterie, August 2025 – © Claire Nicol
What technique(s) do you use?
I mainly use drawing, woodcuts and ceramics.
In a few words, how would you describe your art?
I create dreamlike worlds filled with hybrid beings that I use to showcase the complexity of humanity.
What are the subjects that inspire you?
I turn to nature – plants, minerals and animals, including people – for inspiration. I draw my subjects with a naturalist’s eye and compile my drawings in sketchbooks. These become the foundation for all my pieces.
Woodcuts “Désailés”, on white Velin BFK Rives® paper, and “Charles”, Ceramic – L’Hermine Cultural Centre in Sarzeau, Morbihan 2022 – © Pascal Talon
Ceramic “Atticus” – Lorient Studio 2025 – © Pascal Talon
Tell us about a decisive moment in your career as an artist
The whole of 2025 has been pivotal for me as an artist. First, I received the Arches-Antalis award at the Taylor Foundation as part of the exhibition organised by Pointe et Burin. This award was especially meaningful, as I’ve been using Velin BFK Rives® paper for my woodcuts since 2009. It’s a creative partner that I deeply value, providing me with a foundation to take on large-scale projects. I was also given a solo retrospective exhibition at L’Archipel in Fouesnant, Brittany, where I was able to rework, rethink and stage around 11 years of my creations. The Arches-Antalis award came while that exhibition was taking place, shining an extra light on the show. I created two new installations for the exhibition. It attracted a large, varied and curious audience, and the conversations I had – whether during public or private visits – helped me better understand the singular world I present. In June, I completed a project I’d started in 2022 with Fondalor, a Lorient-based arts patronage fund, and the City of Lorient’s Urban Culture and Nature services: after a year of collaborative work with local residents, I created sculptures that were installed in a newly landscaped garden inaugurated that month. Lastly, in early September, I had the honour of receiving the 1st Prize from the Museum of Quimper Pottery, which acquired one of my sculptures, Atticus, for its collection.
Woodcut “Galerie des ancêtres,” on grey Velin BFK Rives® paper, “Sarrasine rehaussée” – L’Archipel in Fouesnant 2025 – © Pascal Talon
What was your first experience of ARCHES® paper?
Before I discovered woodcuts, I experimented with several techniques. I think my first contact with ARCHES® paper was almost 20 years ago, when I was seeking to produce watercolour images. I especially liked the satin sheets of paper with surface sizing. I appreciated their texture and colour rendering, as well as the ease of use provided by the surface sizing.
ARCHES® paper in one word?
If I have to choose just one, I’ll say quality.
But if I can expand:
Today, after 16 years of using Velin BKF Rives® paper for projects of every kind – some of which have been very bold! – I can say that the support it’s provided has been extremely valuable. Its grain captures the finest ink details and nuances, while its delicate texture never overwhelms, suiting both my raw and subtle pieces. Its deckle edges evoke its traditional production process. It’s flexible and yet strong, holding up to all the handling it endures. It allows me to emboss my blind stamp perfectly, pressing my initials into the paper. Its colour – I use both white and grey depending on the project – contributes to the aesthetics of the etching. I love how paper can stage silence, and its whites are very important. Because its quality is unfailingly consistent, I trust it to support me in ambitious projects still to come – like a new reduction print, in the spirit of the Forêt piece I produced in 2016 on Velin BFK Rives® in Colombier format.
Woodcut “Forêt” (detail), on white Velin BFK Rives® paper – Tessier dit Laplante, Quebec 2019 – © Violaine Fayolle
In your opinion, who is the greatest artist of all time? Why?
That’s a really hard question!
If I had to choose just one, it would be Hieronymus Bosch. He managed to draw on the richness of past works, in particular the marginalia of manuscripts, for example, while creating pieces that were innovative, complex and full of life, revealing a world that resisted any final interpretation. His creativity was unmatched, and even after years of copying and admiring his art, I still draw endless inspiration from him.
Do you have any other projects on the go or planned?
Building on my 2025 research work that was displayed at L’Archipel in Fouesnant – it was entitled Les grands Anciensand was made up of porcelain pieces with inner lighting – I’m now imagining a free-standing structure capable of accommodating these grands Anciens, like in a cave. The idea would be to line the interior walls with large woodcut prints, creating a cave that visitors could step into.
Ceramics with light “grands Anciens” – L’Archipel in Fouesnant 2025 – © Pascal Talon
Ceramic with light “grands Anciens” – L’Archipel in Fouesnant 2025 – © Claire Nicol
