Ceramic Artist and Stoneware Sculptor
Yann Masseyeff is a contemporary sculptor who works primarily with stoneware. His creations, both abstract and inspired by tribal and ancestral forms, explore the material in all its depth and density. Each piece is shaped by hand, then fired at high temperature — a demanding process that gives stoneware its strength and unique character.
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The artist creates both wall sculptures and monumental pieces. In 2022, his installation Ligne de Vie was displayed on Place Vendôme in Paris, establishing his presence on the contemporary art scene.
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His works are exhibited in several galleries, including Secret Gallery in Paris and Monokeros Gallery in Shanghai. With an international clientele, Yann Masseyeff offers unique, handcrafted sculptures, each accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.
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His sculptures invite a dialogue between matter, space, and the viewer.
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Conversation in the studio
In his studio in Saint-Amadou, southwest France, Yann Masseyeff shapes clay as if it were alive. His stoneware and ceramic sculptures are born from a dialogue between gesture and time, between form and intuition.
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When did you start creating?
From a young age. I first learned to draw before studying with the Franco-Hungarian painter Laszlo Mindszenty. He taught me to look before creating — to understand that the hand only moves once the eye has truly seen.
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Yet your path first led you to books, not to sculpture.
Yes. I was a bookseller specializing in decorative arts. It was a fascinating world, surrounded by antique dealers, curators, and experts. But after years of observing artworks, I felt the urge to bring my own into being.
And that happened through ceramics?
Exactly. I discovered the work of the ceramist Pascal Lacroix — his mastery of fire, his precision. I learned from him the technical language of ceramics, but eventually moved away from virtuosity to return to a more instinctive gesture.
Why this return to the raw material?
Because shaping the earth is like speaking with it. I work stoneware with my hands, sometimes with a simple wooden stick. Nothing is planned. Each sculpture takes form through a silent dialogue between the hand, the material, and chance.
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Your sculptures often suggest tribal or primitive forms.
These shapes appear by themselves. They come from far away, from a universal memory that crosses ages. My tribal and primitive sculptures remind us that we all share the same gestures.
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Your work also seems to question perception.
Yes. Everyone sees what they want to see. Abstract sculptures reveal as much about the person who looks at them as about the one who creates them. I like that uncertainty — the space between interpretation and truth.
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And what about the empty space you often leave between two forms?
It’s a breath. The void is as essential as the material itself. It speaks of the future, of the unknown, of the place to be taken. Above all, it’s an inner space.
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