Collection: SIMON MANOHA

After studying musical improvisation and contemporary philosophy, Simon Manoha settled in Ardèche to devote himself to ceramics and photography, and to be close to nature. His sensitivity to the wild and the natural, as well as a visceral penchant for deviance and self-taught character, led him to choose this life. Simon Manoha wishes to make the soil speak in its purest and most poetic form. He spends his day exploring, picking, and collecting clay, minerals, and wood essences in the nearby woods. Then, he tests them, analyses their unique properties, and uses them to create his pieces. Having rigorous environmental ethics, he fires in wood and electric kilns that he built himself, constantly adjusting and improving them.

Simon Manoha's pieces show the power of the Earth. Often anthropomorphic, sometimes evoking known shapes, his art is like petrification. As if they came from primitive times, with mineral nuances and textures, his sculptures bring to mind the weight of time. Simon Manoha first collect clays, stones and sand’s river from the mountain around him to get a final clay which express his environment at best. He creates natural glazes by crushing minerals from the mountain and combining them with ash made with indigenous plants. He often fires in his self built wood kiln with collected dead wood. He works with a full mass of clay that he hollows day after day. This process enables him to shape the form with a minimal amount of movement and a clear and open mind - one that is welcoming to new ideas and inspiration.