My name is Glenn, i was born in 1980. In a family with a very strong patriarchal model.
I was very young enable to roam the world. Thanks to my father’s work and transfers in France as abroad, in Africa, Oceania..
I quickly stood out from the other kids, withdrawing from them and being naturally in contradiction.
I wanted to run away from any established orders, the family one’s and the «narrow minded» society diktats.
Capricorn from birth, yes, but a sheeple, no
I showed no real interest in school, that to me was only representing constraint, rules to follow. Basic general knowledge is all I kept from it today.
The feeling of a real oppressive emptiness was real. So to set my energy free, i enjoyed taking any object I could possibly find into pieces, to the great displeasure of my mother, of course, disapproving this behaviour.
I was dismantling objects in order to understand their operation. I was, without noticing it, experimenting.
Big grumbler, still and perhaps always, I already had such a critical view about the world, and i couldn’t guess how much I was starting to draw my own way yet, by deconstructing items and parenting ideals.
AN EXPLORATION JOB
My parents, in agreement with teachers, guided me toward a mechanic profession because I would obviously be in my proper place.
Then with this specialty, and because I used as a kid to admire the ocean, i decided to join the navy.
Being a sailor and a submariner enabled me to discover so many other horizons. Which opened my mind by meeting « the other parts of the world »
However, emptiness was still here. The sensation that i didn’t truly find myself yet.
The time spent at the heart of my job wasn’t nourishing me. This life wasn’t filling me anymore but it made me understand how short and fragile life was, and how lucky we were to be born on the right side.. or not
REMINISCENCE OR PROUST’S MADELEINE
One afternoon spent in my grandparents’ attic changed my perspective about my personal life. I discovered a little face i approximately sculpted in a tree bark.
This is when the penny dropped. It was at this precise moment I finally knew what I wanted to do in my life. And I told myself :
There you go, i want to MAKE, sculpt, paint, stick, burn, superimpose, weld.. I want to feel the material transforms itself, to subdue, model it and give form to it, i want to CREATE so i can release myself.
So i chose to resign from navy, to free myself from restrictions and to never be in the imitation of anyone.
Then I headed for creation, and this is what i am sharing with you on this website.
AN INTERNAL EXPLORATION
At almost 42, life makes sense, with my trips’ wealth and artists’ encounters in Paris and other capitals.
The most intense encounter i ever made was the one with the tree bark. It woke me up and revealed myself to what I am truly passionate about : Artistic creation.
I describe my art as childish, primal, but to me it is necessary to give in to it as i am in harmony with these materials i’m using.
My hands, wonderful human tools are intuitively guiding me by some sort of creative pulsation, to which, I, little boy, teenager and rebel adult, obey.
I collect my materials by the seaside, on a sidewalk in Berlin, in a container in Nouméa..
I search, amass and everything takes shape and sense.
I invent, re invent, distort, put things together. I give myself every rights. My energy is finally the one who shows on the surface.
I am one with my work, i enjoy and once the work done, i feel like pacified because i expressed myself as close as the being i am.
Come visit my Mermoz workshop (former carpentry hangar that I renovated 5 years ago) in the city center of Guipavas, two minutes from the airport and the Paris/Brest expressway (400 square meter hangar).
Permanent exhibition, on-site purchase of original works.
Possibility of delivery throughout France and internationally.
Tailor-made transport quote.
Do not hesitate to contact me before calling 06 98 85 18 40.
Please note that I am at your disposal for openings as you wish. (Evenings and weekends possible)
You are all welcome to my artistic universe.
Glenn Varez
Artist and manager of the Mermoz Guipavas workshop.