Recovery of plant matter, waste, and other materials, followed by processing

Ceramics, clay, porcelain,

resin, wood, fabrics, all materials

ephemeral sculptures and other

self-educated
Gilbert is a displaced person. His stage name, which is also his surname, is gender-neutral. He says this, he says that. But who is Gilbert really?
From her Belgian roots and Australian upbringing, her personality has blossomed in the fertile ground of Francophone and Anglophone cultures. With a foot in each corner of the globe, she has developed a global perspective on the challenges of contemporary evolution, caught between the vanity of social appearances and the pressing environmental imperative. Seeking a place, a balance within this duality, she defines herself today as an artist and draws on her experiences for the material of her reflections.
Indeed, her own story is deeply intertwined with the world of women's fashion. Initially a model for photographers on the island continent, she leveraged her training in screen printing on textiles, acquired at East Sydney Technical College, to launch the "Lipstik" brand in 1984, featuring hand-printed and hand-painted clothing. She innovated by introducing fluorescent colors to the territory around the same time, and then launched New Caledonia's first modeling agency. She quickly opened her ready-to-wear boutique in Nouméa, and now boasts over 35 years of experience in the fashion industry, including four years in Paris.
In this instance, while it's necessary to surprise and stand out, it's equally important to reassure. This aspect of popular mannerism, poised between originality and aesthetic conventions, carries within it the seeds of the need for introspection that flourished in Gilbert's mind. Speaking of images, is what is right constant? Do the viewers create the painting? How do forms take shape? Does the nature of things owe anything to nature itself?
As soon as possible, she attended art workshops and enrolled in courses and internships abroad to learn how to work with bronze, wood, plaster, ceramics, clay… Gilbert pursued this path, from which she soon reaped her first works. Her creations were (once again) the antithesis of her professional life. They dealt with plant matter and organic waste. These compositions matured elegantly on branches, vines, or roots. They wove connections in space toward the edge of the visible world, they sought the light, they echoed the answers that came.
But this planet, which provides the materials the artist uses to create, increasingly bears witness to its suffering. Time is running out. Natural disasters are intensifying, pollution is spreading inexorably. And Gilbert is filled with doubt. She is becoming angry. This is also the meaning behind some of her sculptures and collages, which reference scorched earth and the coronavirus pandemic.
We all come from somewhere. But we are what we do. In that sense, we are all uprooted.