Simone Pheulpin

Born in Nancy, Simone Pheulpin grew up in the Vosges. She revisits the landscapes of lakes and mountains of this land of textiles between the folds of her works and the thousands of pins that support them. Self-taught, the artist has developed her own technique, which she has been perfecting for nearly 50 years. With her original and innovative practice, she supports and uses exclusively cotton from one of the last Vosges manufacturers, but also pins from the last French sewing pin factory.

Simone Pheulpin’s mastery of sculptural work allows her to transform strips of raw cotton fabric into works that are in turn coral, shell, moss, bark, fossilised stone, or ivory, reflecting the materials, textures and patterns that have inspired the artist. Mono-material, monochrome, her work opens up an infinite number of possibilities of shapes and volumes. This long and meticulous work of stacking, winding, tightening is for her a meditative process. Concealing the tangled pins that hold her sculptures, the unbleached fabric leaves only an organic trompe-l’oeil to be seen.

In 2017, Simone Pheulpin was recognised with the Grand Prix de la Création de la Ville de Paris. In 2018 she won the honorary prize of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize. Her work has entered the public collections of several institutions: the Art Institute of Chicago in the United States (2018), the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (2018), the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (2019 then 2021) and, more recently, the CNAP collections (2024).

In 2021, on the occasion of the artist’s 80th birthday, the MAD-Paris devoted to the artist a monographic exhibition, bringing together around 50 pieces. Today, three sculptures by Simone Pheulpin are conserved in the permanent collections of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris: Jéromine, Éclosion Épingles and Détail VII are presented in Jeanne Lanvin’s prestigious apartments.