Journey to the Heart of Matter
Contemporary stoneware sculptures and artworks: unique pieces, wall sculptures, and creations exhibited in France and internationally
Yann Masseyeff’s creations unfold like a journey to the heart of matter. From drawing, he naturally moved toward shaping stoneware — a raw material that offers him complete freedom.
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His sculptures are born from an instinctive, almost archaic gesture: a finger, a wooden stick, a direct imprint in the clay. “One form brings forth another,” he says.
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In this dialogue with the earth, each piece finds its balance — until the moment it quietly tells him it is finished. Any superfluous addition would betray the original impulse.
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This intuitive rigor has forged a singular world, where each sculpture is unique, just as every human being is.
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Over the years, his series have become fields of exploration. Noir & Blanc, for instance, questions our place within society: each small sculpture embodies an individuality, a singular presence within a larger whole. The contrast of black and white highlights both exclusion and emptiness, yet also the harmony that emerges when one steps back to see the whole.
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Ligne de Vie, a monumental work temporarily installed on Place Vendôme in Paris, extends this reflection to the urban scale: 66 sculptures aligned over 41 metres — a metaphor for time, transformation, and the question each viewer must face: “What are you doing with your life?”
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With Cadence, the artist explores sensory perception: a system of LEDs emits rhythmic pulses of light, like vital beats, turning the sculpture into a kind of visual breath.
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Through Air, Sound, and Point de Vue, he continues this exploration of rhythm, repetition, and variation — always in search of purity and inner resonance.​​
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​Some pieces rest on wooden bases or metal supports; others unfold in large wall compositions. Yet all bear the same mineral and spontaneous imprint that defines his language.
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These works are not representations, but presences. They evoke primitive forms emerging from ancestral memory, opening a space where each viewer may see what they wish to see — like shapes in passing clouds.
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The artist does not seek to impose meaning, but to invite reflection — on time, transformation, and our individuality within the collective.
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His sculptures are meant to be experienced as much as observed, standing at the intersection of abstraction and emotion. As one collector told him: “I’ve looked at your work every day for ten years, and every day, it reveals a new meaning.”
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Each series has its own universe, to be discovered in detail:
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– Noir & Blanc — diptychs exploring individuality and society
– Ligne de Vie — monumental installation on Place Vendôme
– Cadence — luminous and rhythmic sculpture
– Air, Sound, and Point de Vue — variations on perception and gesture
– Collaborations (Daum, Marjoo, Reda Amalou) — where his sculptural language meets other artistic practices​​
This journey forms a mosaic of experiences. Together, these works tell the story of an artist for whom sculpture is above all an act of life — a way to confront doubt, embrace uncertainty, and leave a mark: unique, inimitable, and open to each viewer’s personal interpretation.
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