Élisabeth Garouste

A singular figure in French design, Élisabeth Garouste has been developing a body of work for over forty years at the crossroads of furniture, sculpture, and the decorative arts. Her practice is distinguished by an unapologetic formal freedom, nourished by a wide range of references—vernacular cultures, so-called “primitive” arts, medieval or surrealist imagery—which she assembles into a deeply personal visual language.

Through works that are often unique or produced in very limited editions, Élisabeth Garouste asserts an artisanal approach to design, in which the hand, the material, and the accident retain an essential role. Burnt wood, hammered metal, ceramics, leather, and natural fibers are worked without hierarchy, in a constant dialogue between rigor and intuition. Far from any standardization, her objects assert an almost totemic presence, evoking uses that are as symbolic as they are domestic.

Rejecting established categories, Élisabeth Garouste aligns herself with a tradition of resistant design, in which the object becomes a bearer of narratives, memories, and reactivated ancestral gestures. At Galerie Omagh, her work resonates particularly within a program attentive to discreet forms of radicality, the transmission of craftsmanship, and a vision of luxury grounded in poetic intensity rather than ornament.