Nativity
2011
Wooden float, gold leaf, acrylic
5,9 x 10,6 x 5,1 inches (15 cm x 27 cm x 13 cm)

A black acrylic material is partially applied on the base of a regular masonry trowel covered with gold leaf. The form obtained appears during the separation: it is from the amorous encounter of two surfaces that the silhouette and its tree design are born. This tool borrowed from the mason is made of plastic and wood; it is a raw industrial object taken out of its original context - close to the ready made - chosen for its triangular shape recalling the icon and its relation of the gesture to the surface. Indeed, Thomas Tronel-Gauthier revisits here the basic ritual of the mason used to to build. It also echoes the technique of the fresco, whose process "a fresco" allowed to freeze the drawing in the fresh material. The creative process here joins the scientific and spiritual questions of the artist on the origin of the world, including its interest in morphogenesis, a set of laws that determine the forms, structure of tissues, organs and organisms. The resulting black form combines a tree fractal pattern with a semi-random silhouette that can evoke that of the human figure. This direct reference to the icon is also a tribute to the work of Giotto (1267-1337) and the tradition of wood support treated with gold and paint. The title Nativity refers as much to symbolism and religious history (the birth of Christ) as to this personal search for the origin of forms.