Could you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your background?

I grew up in Paris, studied in London, and now live in Lisbon. I was working in the fashion photography area and art curation, when I decided to start anew, move to Portugal, and create Main Edition. “Main” means hand in French. From this shape, five times articulated, I conceive a variety of objects and collaborate with architects, perfumers, book publishers to jewelers.  

Can you explain why you decided to work in Lisbon? How has it changed your approach to your project?

I picked Lisbon 8 years ago for a thousand good reasons: its colors, its architecture and traditional craftsmanship, its history, and the various similarities I find between French and Portuguese ways of living. But most of all Lisbon was a well-connected capital city, with this very vibrant poetic charm and temporality, where artists and craftsmen were still working in the city center. This meant a lot of creative possibilities and encounters for me. Since then, it has been a constant exploration of ancestral know-how mixed with new material experiments. Clay is my starting point and hands are my most elemental tool. I mold, sculpt, and design, and thanks to living here, I grew to work not only with ceramics but also with metal and various other materials. 

Could you tell us what project you are working on and what you would like to explore in the coming months?

I recently got to completely rehabilitate a house in Lapa, Casa do Cura, in collaboration with the architectural studio Atelier AAVV. I decided to create ornamental elements linked to its history. When exploring its neighborhood, I realized nuns were living in the surrounding convents. I started digging into all those crazy and extravagant nuns’ caps shapes, which is how the “Cornette” wall lamps were born. I made a version in ceramics, and two others in metal. The oxidized copper version process was exhilarating: it was me and the blacksmith - I call him Hephaistos, exploring the reaction of the metal with acid, creating landscapes on copper. 

I cannot wait to continue this series of nuns’ caps inspired objects, such as mirrors, lamps, and door handles. More to discover soon! 

Could you name one Portuguese artist you admire or who inspired you?

Helena Almeida, specifically her Desenho Habitado [Inhabited drawing] and Pintura Habitada (Inhabited painting). I discovered her work in the Musée du Jeu de Paume in Paris when I was packing my stuff to move to Lisbon. Signs are everywhere.

Can you tell us one spot in Lisbon that inspires you?

Hephaistos’ workshop, where I get to see metal in fusion, acid baths and hands at work.

It’s actually quite representative of what is going on in my head: shaping things with hands and fire, without any gloves or a limiting filter. Very Main Edition material!

How do you see the evolution of the Lisbon creative community? 

The creative community has been blooming lately. And I guess the biggest achievement for this city would be to manage to create strong links between the poles: between the ancestral craftsmanship and the new design creative scene, between the locals and the internationals. I am trying to do my part: I have had the opportunity to work with Susana Barros Lapa, the wife of ceramics master Querubim Lapa, to restore 18-19th century azulejos, I work with an incredible blacksmith for the “Cornette” project and I am now looking for glass blowers.