Robert Jayet is a sculptor living and working in Grenoble, France. He works using a combination of semi precious stones, bronze and various metals to create figures with a depth and texture that recall his idols Dali, Giacometti & Brunesci. Also influenced by African and Etruscan art, his figures both human and animal are elongated and elegant, and from their marble bases they sway as though imbued with a life of their own.
Robert exhibits locally in France, and here at the Whitethorn Gallery.
Born in 1947, as a teenager, I was impressed by the transfer of Egyptian temples. From then on I developed a passion for Egyptian, Etruscan and African arts.
Self-taught, I started sculpting pieces in wood, stone and metal when I was 15 years old. A welder training allowed me to handle torches and arc posts, so I focused more particularly on the creation of metallic shapes combining different metals such as copper, brass….
My favorite material is metal. It allows me to refine the silhouettes, to purify my characters and to give them height. Sometimes I combine other materials to give them color.
I chisel the heads in stone: marble, serpentine, onyx, lapis lazuli…. or I work with metal to create an expressive face. I also sometimes associate bronze heads.
I also realize fantastic animals which “inhabit” my garden, birds, mosquitoes, wasps ……
My passion for Don Quixote has not left me since my “first sculptures” and they are getting bigger and bigger.
I create by “feeling”, I draw my ideas from my experience. I appreciate Giacometti, Dali and Brancusi….
Speeches are not my priority, I prefer contact and explain my work to people who are interested in my creations.
The recognition of my work is, for me, my greatest satisfaction.
