Nathan French

‘The sculptures seem to emit a subtle light, distinguishing them from the flatness of tradition’ Nathan David French was born to Welsh and Anglo-Indian parents. French pursued an education at Central Saint Martins; his creative talents blossomed in the London art school, where art was conceived to include the strange and the outsiders, rather than being conformed to social norms or the strict demands of the fashion world. His free, imaginative designs and meticulous attention to the human shape lead him to create wearable art later seen at Paris and London fashion weeks, and worn by iconic performers such as Björk and Lady Gaga. Throughout his practice French became interested in the representation of human bodies; he would experiment with bold, other-worldly textures and colours, then grounding them in earthy sculptural forms. French references the gods and deities depicted in statues from Greek antiquity. He questions these idealised bodies in his own sculptural forms, that seem to want to break free from their caste; they expose human fragility, and exude subjectivity and diversity over that which is to represent ‘man’ or ‘god’. In his constant search for texture and innovation, each phase of French’s career brings on a new material to explore, from feathers or wax to his new obsession, crystals. He grows the crystals in huge baths, drowning his sculptures to allow the natural process of crystallisation. By doing so, the artistic process has a mind of its own, creating subtle hues invented by natural elements. By slightly altering the process, each of French’s sculptures becomes a unique rendition of nature, completed only when the crystal process stops. Exhibitions include Trauma Fauna, Shame Gallery, 2022; Homografía, 2021, Pretty Ugly, Shame Gallery, 2021; Orgasmus Mulieribus, Hôte Gallery, 2020; Wasteland, Park Park Studios, 2019; Juiceland, Park Park Studios, 2019; Austrian Embassy, 2018 (all Brussels); and Adornism and Skin, the Ballery, Berlin. French’s artworks have been shown at the Accessible Art Fair and Antwerp Queer Arts Festival. Three of his sculptures are included in the Loosveldt Collection.