Ships, Folk Art, and Whimsey in Bottles

Born in Nancy, Lorraine,(France) 1948. I have made models of boats from the age of 10 years. My background is architectural design, mapping and topography. I was model maker for 15 professional years in architecture for industry and museums. Then, I joined the Civil Service as a designer until I retired two years ago. I made my first ship in a bottle at age 20 in 1968, the second in 1978, since then I've never stopped. I think I have built between 300 and 400 models in thirty-three years, without counting.

 

I do not try to exactly meet reality, I change it to try and create an atmosphere, an environment, and I cheat the proportions of my creations to highlight the characteristics that are particular and specific to each subject. My priority is to create a scene as in a movie, by working with proportions. I work all topics: boats, portraits of people, legendary figures, literature, art or popular.

My goal is to put a maximum of poetry in my dream with hope that the viewer will travel with me.

The bottle, instead of a glass case that puts an artificial barrier around the scene , becomes part of the subject and leaves the viewer's imagination to escape outside to imagine the immensity of the ocean. A rectangular show case  shuts in like a prison, a terminal, whereas the bottle is smooth and allows one to imagine the vast ocean.

I consider myself one-third  model maker , one-third painter, and one-third sculptor. I need the model, the color and the dimension to be complete, but each of them separately leaves me unsatisfied. I must have all three. 

My watchwords are: dreams and poetry.

 

Bottles by Gerard Aubry