SWISS ORIGINAL HANDMADE CREATIVE PROJECT


Francine LeClercq wins First Award in SWISS ORIGINAL HANDMADE CREATIVE PROJECT competition.


For centuries, the Swiss tradition of Emmentaler AOP cheese production has focused on the art of cheesemaking, on artisan skills and on handmade expertise, all underpinned by a caring attitude towards nature, time, materials, know-how and the vital energy of the environment we live in.
In order to be able to continue to read, refresh and interpret its own values in an innovative, contemporary and disruptive way, Emmentaler Switzerland launched an international competition, to which 450 artists from 55 countries responded.




Francine LeClercq "Swinkern" (detail)





Francine LeClercq: So many stories have been formed around the intriguing eyes of the Swiss Emmentaler: from the tale of a hungry mouse told to children, to scientific papers on bacteria, acidity and hay dust, etc… Here, the stories and the facts have been given a poetic twist, morphed into intricate doilies that recall silhouette paper cutting ( “Scherenschnitte") and St. Gallen embroidery.A snapshot glimpse of a Swiss wink.

From the Jury: The refined “embroidery” pencil drawing by Francine LeClercq is precisely detailed with technical sophistication in filling empty spaces on the surface. It shows a world made of cultural archetypes, objects, evocative images that immediately resound, telling the stories and the feelings of everyday life. It is a kind of precious work of jewelry that becomes the writing of a relationship between place, subject and identity.






The award ceremony and the exhibition designed and curated by Massimo Bruto Randone took place at the Overstudio in Milan on November 12, 2019.

The exhibition-event was organized with the support of the Brera Academy of Fine Arts and the support of Cumulus, the only global association to deal with education and research in the field of art and design.