In 2018, the audience at Porlwi by Nature discovers, at Le Grenier, a series of green plants suspended in mid-air, one meter above the ground… They were displayed in their entirety, their roots wrapped in a ball of moss of varying sizes. For the first time, French plant sculptor Alain Gernigon exhibited his work in Mauritius. Dominique Bellier
Having taught himself kokedama—a Japanese technique derived from bonsai—the plant sculptor adds another dimension to it by making his plants float in the air. In addition to the sense of lightness this creates, plants that are typically meant to take root in the ground and remain stationary become mobile and ethereal. They spread freely in all directions around the nourishing sphere, making them particularly spectacular.
His creations are on display in his shop in the Quartier des Serres neighborhood of Labourdonnais , and he devotes himself to his experiments in his garden-studio in Vacoas. Although he worked as a painter and sculptor in France and Réunion, his work with plants over the past fifteen years has turned this artist into an insatiable Gyro Gearloose. Made from wild orchids, deer antlers, Madagascar pistachio trees, and various ficus species, his plant-based compositions are the result of meticulous and patient observation of the natural world.
Fascinated by the way a plant can take root in a crack, he follows every tiny change in his living sculptures— every root or shoot that appears—until the whole piece takes on a satisfying form. His workshop is full of dead fanjan stems, which make excellent supports. One of them has become The Vessel, adorned with a selection of epiphytic plants, whose needs for water, light, and so on will be managed by an electronic brain connected to miniature cameras and sensors… “One day, I’m going to make my plants talk, too!” adds our host, with a touch of mischief.
