Jean Servais Somian

Inspired by many years spent between Africa and Europe, Jean Servais Somian claims in his work an approach rich with influences, hybrid and fluid. He draws from an ancestral culture the forms of certain objects of African daily life which he reinterprets through refined lines and touches of colour and materials that have become characteristic of his work. Basins, totem trees, pirogues are transformed under the gaze of the designer into stools, bookcases and benches whose wood (coconut, ebony, or amazaque) completes the tribute to the richness of the African lands that saw them born. All the objects are designed and made in Côte d'Ivoire where Jean Servais Somian opened his design studios in 2018, one in Grand Bassam for the sculpture of the pieces, the other in Abidjan for cabinet-making. He favours the singular character of each of his creations and develops an aesthetic reflection at the crossroads of art and design. Each of his objects produced in very small quantities retains its original utilitarian and functional dimension, while the plastic design work of the pieces builds eloquent visual bridges with contemporary sculpture.