PARIS.- Carpenters Workshop Gallery Paris presents STUDIES, a new collection of work by French designer Martin Laforêt, whose search for self-expression is inspired by his interest in shapes and material combinations. Drawn to the domains of sculpture, industry and architecture, Laforêt seeks to elevate rudimentary building materials into fine artworks.

The experimental STUDIES series comprises works made of lacquered wood that reflect Laforêt’s latest explorations of shape, scale and colour. Pieces like STUDY 2 RED evoke the architecture of urban spaces that can be both desolate and expansive. This expansive table embodies Laforêt’s interest in conferring new life and sensibility into ubiquitous imagery, materials and forms. Combining sculpture and painting, the new collection sees the artist embrace the spontaneity, pleasure and freedom of making.

Complementing this series are works including HWB300, which consists of two concrete benches crossing each other to create the impression of an aerial view of two highways intersecting. Placed together, the two benches create a silhouette that invites viewers to consider notions of scale, expansion and journeying.

These new works by Laforêt embody the artist’s interest in the architecture of artificial contemporary landscapes, such as the roads and concrete buildings of sprawling urban environments. Working with everyday, low-cost and industrial materials, the artist aims to create works that tell relatable and recognisable stories, while also imbuing the materials with nobility through handcrafted processes.

French designer Martin Laforêt was born in July 1991. Raised in Paris but now living in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, Laforêt creates objects and furniture. His work does not follow any specific course of conduct, yet one can easily discover his overall use of techniques and interest in materials.

Inspired by artisan skills and the intelligence of the hand, “My work is an attempt to bring out the specific personality of materials and to produce original shapes. I search for a self-expression often inspired by my current interest in shapes and material combinations. I like objects attached to the domain of sculpture, industry, and architecture.”

Laforêt’s first collection ‘The Mould Objects’ was created with moulds that were used as casts but also incorporated into the final piece. “The interplay between the inverse mould and positive form lends a poetry to the industrial construction materials I use, which includes concrete, aluminium, wooden shuttering, and steel rebars.”

The objects created by Laforêt are inspired by precast concrete blocks. Precast concrete is a construction product produced by casting concrete in a reusable mould or form which is then cured in a controlled environment, and transported to the construction site.

As with these precast blocks, ‘The Mould Objects’ were shaped both by their function and moulding constrains. This technique relates the objects to the domain of industry and architecture. The origin of the objects’ concrete blocks look ambiguous, it can be difficult to discern if these blocks have been either made for the objects or have been collected on a building site.