Away from Lange Reihe, the district of St. Georg always offers small hidden gems to discover. One of them is the Atelier Figurart, located at Danziger Straße 40.
The studio, situated opposite a playground, was quickly discovered by children when it was opened in 2011 by Valérie Bayol. The puppet and figure maker from St. Georg, originally from the south of France, has been living in Hamburg for over 20 years.
It is no coincidence that she speaks excellent German with a charming slight French accent: after studying German language and literature, she worked in Berlin as a foreign language correspondent before moving to Hamburg for love.
Studio Visit with Valérie Bayol by Gabriele Koppel
A French woman drawn to Germany by German fashion of all things – hard to believe! Yet as an exchange student, she fell in love with the loose, eco-style look that was popular here at the time. Later came meaningful social connections and, eventually, true love – and so she stayed: Valérie Bayol of Danziger Straße 40, whose shop window reveals large, expressive figures to attentive passersby.
It all began with a small theatre she crafted for her son, along with the figures that would perform on its stage. She drew inspiration from the Burgundian fashion of the Middle Ages – long garments and the imposing fabric headdresses worn by noblewomen. Over the years, Valérie refined her technique and developed her art further.
She models the heads from a “wood-based pulp,” made from a mixture of sawdust and paper. The path from her exhibition space to the workshop leads past large sacks of materials to a sturdy wooden workbench, equipped with solid tools used in many steps to create the faces that give both human and animal figures their distinctive expression. The challenge, she says, is knowing when to stop modeling and decide that a head is finished. She often finds this difficult – just as she does when shaping “mean mouth corners,” for example for witches. “Animals are easier to create; I have more freedom and can let go of them more easily,” she explains.
Letting go, in general, is not easy… “Hand on heart, Valérie, are you sure you really want to sell your puppets?” The answer comes quickly, though with a certain undertone: “The figures attract all kinds of people – rich or poor, women or men, children or adults. My clientele is very diverse: artists and teachers, merchants and psychologists… of course I don’t always ask about their profession, but this diversity is wonderful. Still, every sale is a farewell, and that is never easy.”
It is fascinating, she says, to observe what people see in her work. “Some view them as sculptures, others as figures to play with. I create very different characters. Some prefer animals, others only human figures; some are fascinated by the costumes, others by the sculptural aspect itself – the pure form without hair or clothing. Almost everyone stops in front of the shop window. Even dogs… though for different reasons.”
She then demonstrates what can be done with the puppets: placing a hand inside to bring them to life, hanging them decoratively on the wall, or displaying them as objects awaiting their next moment of movement. For the visit, the front of the shop is neatly arranged, though one senses it will soon return to the lively atmosphere of a working studio. After one last glance at shelves filled with fabrics, wool, feathers, and fur for clothing and hair, Valérie is once again left with the space and time for the creation of her works.
(Written by Gabriele Koppel for “Der lachende Drache”, 11/2014, No. 279)
Valérie Bayol is a French artist, born in 1968 in southern France and raised in the medieval town of Albi. After studying German language and literature in Montpellier, she moved to Berlin. Today she lives with her family in Hamburg and has been working in her studio in St. Georg since 2011.
The Artist Valérie Bayolwriten for the St. Georg Blog by Angela Rohbeck
Away from Lange Reihe, the district of St. Georg always offers small hidden gems to discover. One of them is the Atelier Figurart, located at Danziger Straße 40.
The studio, situated opposite a playground, was quickly discovered by children when it opened in 2011. Valérie Bayol, a puppet and figure maker from St. Georg, originally from the south of France, has been living in Hamburg for over 20 years. She speaks excellent German with a charming French accent – not only because of her origins, but also thanks to her studies in German language and literature and her work as a foreign language correspondent in Berlin before moving to Hamburg for love.
It all began with a puppet theatre she created for her son. He is now 17 and has other interests, but Valérie’s passion for puppets has only grown. As a self-taught artist, she has been creating puppets and figures for over ten years and has developed a fascinating and distinctive style. In her atelier, visitors stepping down a few stairs enter a wonderful world where hand puppets, marionettes, and other figures seem to gaze back at them. A wide variety of animal puppets can be discovered – many wolves and foxes, but also lions, mice, donkeys, camels, cats, and imaginative figures from dreamlike kingdoms and fable worlds.
“I originally created the hand puppets for children,” says the artist, “but more and more customers began to purchase them as works of art.” Soon, parents also became interested – either because they were fascinated by the figures or wanted to play with them – and workshops followed. Children are introduced to this art: heads made from wood-based modeling material, painted with acrylics, and clothing sewn from selected fabrics using original patterns. Creating their own puppets brings great joy to both children and parents, and more workshops are planned in the future. Those interested can simply get in touch with Valérie.
The shop window on Danziger Straße is now familiar to many passersby. The figures are also acquired as theatre characters, sculptures, or hand puppets for educational purposes. Therapists, psychologists, and mediators use them to illustrate themes such as nonviolent communication. The “language of the giraffe,” symbolizing communication from the heart, was something even the author had not known before. Schools are also among the customers, purchasing puppets for plays and theatre work. The beauty and uniqueness of the figures make them highly desirable as art objects, which is why Valérie also creates sculptures and busts.
Art in the Shop Window
Individual animal figures can currently also be seen at Lange Reihe 71, in the coin shop of Holger Busse, as part of the “Art in the Shop Window” initiative, until October 4th. This small preview, however, is nothing compared to the magical world of Atelier Figurart, which is well worth a visit.
There are no fixed opening hours at the atelier. Anyone wishing to visit Valérie Bayol can simply contact her or take a look through her shop window at Danziger Straße 40.