Okashi, Hosu, Niji, Taboo, Torio — so many enchanting names forming a forest of totems created by Amélie Dauteur.
Amélie Dauteur’s totems are poetic exclamation marks, punctuating the art scene with their gaiety, finesse, and simply their joyful beauty. It is hardly surprising: their creator, coming from the worlds of decoration, fashion, and luxury, brings exceptional care to their making. Her gesture is assured, her technique impeccable, and nothing is left to chance in the choice of materials — hand-painted ceramics and time-worn wood, elements drawn from nature that reinforce the primitive and sensual spirit of the totems.

Although Dauteur sometimes speaks about them with lightness and humour, one should not forget that within their forms lies an entire lineage of art history — from Matisse to Ellsworth Kelly, through Miró — while also calling upon the great names of sculpture such as Jean Arp, Constantin Brâncuși, and Alexander Calder, artists whose heritage she openly embraces. From these tutelary figures, she creates her own synthesis of abstract and figurative, vegetal and animal — an ideal kind of concretion, a language entirely her own that also reflects her appreciation and knowledge of the arts premiers.

Her totems are unlike any others. Each one is unique, though conceived within families of twelve, and comes to life in her sketchbooks — precise preparatory drawings reminiscent of trend books and moodboards.

Across all eras and continents, humanity has needed to create totems: emblems of a clan, a family, a tribe — objects of protection or devotion. To possess an Amélie Dauteur totem and to delight in its contemplation is to grant oneself moments of reverie and calm. No wonder that one wishes to expand this family, restoring to art a sense of the sacred.