QUIETNESS — Ceramic on Metal by Arnaud Quercy

About This Artwork

QUIETNESS strips the human face to its geometric core. The sculpture reduces features to three essential elements: a vertical blade for the nose, horizontal slits for closed eyes, and a curved shell for the skull. Part of the Untamed Creations collection, the work draws on a lineage of geometric simplification that spans Cycladic idols, Brancusi's reduced heads, and Modigliani's elongated faces. The closed eyes and sealed mouth access a register of stillness tied to sacred objects and devotional forms.

The pale ceramic head rises as a narrow, vertical form with flat architectural planes. After high-temperature firing, the entire surface was hand-sanded to achieve a smooth finish closer to polished stone than typical fired clay. Beeswax seals the surface, producing a warm matte quality that reinforces the archaic character. The natural earth tones of the clay speak without added glaze or surface decoration. A thin dark metal rod lifts the head above a square metal base, separating the organic ceramic form from the geometric support below.

The work measures forty by twelve by twelve centimeters and weighs just under two kilograms. Created at the Profils et Reliefs workshop in Paris under master ceramicist Isis Gondoin, the sculpture uses a fine-grog clay body that provides strength while allowing the precise geometric planes the form requires. The artist's signature appears on the bottom. Certificate of authenticity number 20240514-0077 accompanies the piece. The sculpture is cataloged as AQC0581.

The hand-sanding process was so physically demanding on the fired clay that it caused tendinitis in the artist's arm. The fired grog particles reach near-granite hardness, making post-firing surface work an uncommon and extreme technique. This material commitment connects the piece to Brancusi's obsessive polishing practice, where surface treatment becomes integral to meaning rather than mere finishing.