“If it’s on, it’s open,” warns Sarah Morincreator of lighting fixtures remarkable products made from fruit shells. More precisely calabashes. She opened Red Showcasea workshop at 25 rue de la 8ème division, between the city center of Compiègne and the Staff College area.
“Trendy stylist” by trade, Sarah Morin discovered the fruit in Portugal, where she was developing bed linen. “In Portugal, we grow bottles. I grow lamps!”
The materials used by Sarah Morin to transform a gourd into a light fixture are as local as possible. Whether it’s the electrical cables, the paint, the beads that come from the Arche in Trosly-Breuil… The starting price of a gourd lamp is €120.
“Each piece is unique”
“Each piece is unique,” says Sarah Morin, who set up the workshop she had in Pierrefonds in Compiègne. The artist works with “calabash gourds”, “ancestors of our bottles which contained fruit, wine, oil… A process which developed around the Mediterranean. “But also in South America, and still used in Africa,” she describes. As soon as we started aging the wine, we moved on to amphorae.”
The gourd, gourd or dipper (Lagenaria siceraria), is a species of flowering plant in the Cucurbitaceae family. In France, the fruit is called cougourde, whose capital is Nice. There are festivals that celebrate it “It takes six months for the water to evaporate and become hollow,” explains Sarah Morin, who uses the pilgrim gourd. Which, as its name suggests, was used by pilgrims.
“It can’t be eaten, it’s bitter and not sweet,” describes Sarah Morin. There are a few producers in France. Mine is based in Saumur. I am trying to establish the cultivation of this cucurbit in Hautefontaine.” This fruit is often used by artisans. Some transform it into a musical instrument.
“But we can make other objects with it,” explains Sarah Morin. Toys, various instruments… In Peru, in the Andes, they are used as funerary objects. In Asia, it is used as a float for boats…”
A workshop shared with graphic designer Charlotte Farkas
Sarah Morin shares her shared workshop with Charlotte Farkas. This graphic designer has set up her company’s offices upstairs. Poppy Dream.
She supports her clients in creating a global identity, which goes beyond a logo. “I am a creator of “inspirational” universes and a weaver of emotional bonds,” she says. My workshop allows me to deploy my multi-faceted universe in all dimensions. To encourage you to wear your colors high.”
Charlotte Farkas, Rêve Coquelicot graphic designer. Tel: 06.24.96.62.91
Sarah Morin, gourd lighting. By appointment at 06.62.76.36.34
