Photos by Michelle Du Xian. Emeline Piot et Mathon, 2019. Courtesy of artists and Mathon Paris.
Emeline Piot x Mathon Paris
More than a simple collection of jewellery, this collection is first and foremost the story of a human encounter, that of an intense, rich and fruitful collaboration between the artist Emeline Piot and Maison Mathon, its workshops and its craftsmen.
The artist and Aude Mathon found each other through a shared aesthetic and common values nourished by an attachment to the crafts. The abundant and colourful work of Emeline Piot is centered on animal and plant themes, which find a strong echo in the Mathon universe.
The work of Emeline Piot, created freehand from a multitude of lines that compose the overall form, needed a reappropriation of bygone techniques by the artisans of Maison Mathon to respect its delicacy. The liveliness of the colours also required them to rethink the contribution of colour for the jewellery, via a treatment of lacquer in the pierced openwork, alternated with the seaming of colored gems.
The fruit of two years labour, the co-construction of this unique piece was forged through continuous dialogue, respect for the work of one another and the joint research of technical solutions linked by a shared aesthetic ambition. This unique Collection consists of ten pieces of jewellery, earrings, a plastron necklace, rings, a cuff and a chain. It is a collaborative work symbolising a new way of thinking and creating jewellery, the signature of Maison Mathon.
Also associated to this project is Michelle Du Xuan, a China-born photographer and film director. Born and raised in an artistic family, her imagery is carefully composed full of rich colours and emotional expressions. Paintings, music and cinema are her fundamental inspiration, making her images vivid and diverse.
She started her career as a photographer and movie-maker after moving to Paris, where she now lives and where she continues to explore intimate boundaries, surrealism, and alternate universes in both her commissioned and personal work. She has been published in magazines such as Vogue China, Vogue Netherlands, Harper's Bazaar, GQ, L'officiel, King Kong, The September Issues and Hunter magazine. Her photo projects have been exhibited in Shanghai, Paris, London, Cannes and Las Vegas.