Plein Sud: Sur un os… That title is certainly intriguing.
Françoise Pétrovitch: It refers to the title of one of my sculptures, which depicts a young girl perched on a tall, vertical bone. This bone motif first appeared in 2011 in a series of engravings themed around a little girl who becomes an ogress. It's a form that suggests a reversal of roles—a fragility transformed into strength...
P.S.: The human figure seems to interest you more than landscapes. Is it a source of inspiration?
F.P.: Absolutely. What interests me is the human being, their psychology, the relationships between people, and gesture—and many of my works speak to that. There are also many references to art history in my work. You can sometimes find allusions to a Magritte painting or to 17th-century vanitas. These are often lingering images that inhabit me and take on new forms in my pieces.
P.S.: One of your drawing series, Île, does depict a landscape—something quite rare in your work.
F.P.: Yes, that’s true. But in reality, these islands aren’t realistic. The drawings are hung in two overlapping rows. The reflection in the water doesn’t necessarily match what’s above. It creates a kind of diluted, subterranean world—almost apocalyptic and fantastical, on the verge of disappearing.
P.S.: There’s also a strong animal presence in your work—quite unsettling at times, as one wonders whether they are real animals…
F.P.: Yes, I use them as a kind of intrusion of the natural into our lives. These animals represent something both everyday and instinctual—wild, even. They disrupt the human order, sometimes by blending into the characters. Some of my sculptures are indeed hybrid—you can’t always tell if it’s a human wearing a calf mask, or a being holding rabbits in their arms. There are also many small animals in my sculptures, like silent presences. One of these series is even called Sentinelles, like figures keeping watch without saying a word.
P.S.: Drawing, painting, ceramics—even video. What explains this desire to explore so many mediums?
F.P.: I enjoy playing with these porosities, these transitions from one medium to another. For example, some motifs that first appear in drawings are later reinterpreted in painting or sculpture, and vice versa. Each practice feeds into the others, even though the core of my work remains drawing and painting. Sculpture came later—particularly ceramics and bronze, which I’ve been working with for about twenty years. In the final room of the exhibition, there’s a subtle interplay between bronze and ceramic pieces, sometimes blurring the line between the materials.
P.S.: The work Papillon seems to embody this blending of materials particularly well. How did you envision it?
F.P.: It’s a major video installation that I created with Hervé Plumet, with whom I collaborate on this medium as a duo. The immersive video is designed to be walked through, with multiple screens acting like veils, creating an environment that is both sonic and luminous. It combines colorful ink drawings of human and animal figures, evoking themes that are dear to me—intimacy, fragmentation, nature, and hybridization…
Sur un os, Françoise Pétrovitch, at MO.CO Montpellier until November 2nd, 2025.