Resulting in a group show, Nick joined his photographic approach with French graphic designer Érika Muller, and Spanish industrial designer Tomás Alonso to reinterpret within their respective disciplines the work of Pierre Leron-Lesur. Pierre spent the last fifty years of his life developing what he calls sylvistructure: a unique practice at the crossing point of art and craftsmanship.
“My work reveals raw wood, stripped from any artifice. Nature is a spectacle. One needs to open their eyes to the mystery of the trees.” (Pierre Leron-Lesur)
“Sylvistructure”, a term coined by Pierre, aims to reveal the natural beauty of old pieces of wood found on country paths. The technique involves delicately stripping the wood from decomposing matter, in order to reveal its core. Throughout his career, he has developed a special interest in the almond tree: a singular tree with sinuous, twisted shapes that is becoming increasingly rare in Provence.
The project was born from a dialogue between disciplines and generations – with an original collaboration between the three young London-based creatives and 90-year-old Pierre, an atypical, self-taught craftsman whose work is deeply rooted in the land of Provence.
Following Pierre’s ritual, the starting point had to be the walk through the Alpilles mountain range near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence searching for the right tree to work with - it had to be a dead almond tree. Each of the pieces displayed gravitates around this tree and the path that led toit. The dead almond tree is the leading thread of the work and the exhibition.