Born in Brest, Haude Bernabé lives and works in Paris. Beyond the fact her works are part of many private collections in France and abroad, including the Cérès Franco contemporary art collection in Montolieu, what strikes through her works as a sculptor is its strength, almost as a “force majeur” of creation.

« Odyssey »

“This Odyssey surely began long before my travels. It took root in my childhood, near the Breton coasts and countryside, cradled by its legends. My first memory of a forest remains the very old Huelgoat forest, with its tall trees that filter the light, its mosses, the splashing water, and especially its chaotic rocks with enchanting names, tied to many mysterious legends over time. They gave me very early on the feeling that nature is not just a landscape, but a living and inhabited presence, a kind of omen that surely prepared me to hear the echoes of forests elsewhere. Then, during a stay in Togo in 2019, while hiking in the bush, I was shown the dyeing properties of the young teak leaf. Since I had my sketchbook with me, I took an imprint of it using its sap. I was unaware at the time, but it was a revelation. Since that day, leaves have been at the center of my work.”

Of course, it is often metonymic: behind the representation of the leaf, there is the tree.I have always been passionate about plants and admired the lines that compose them, often in a nearly mathematical way: symmetries, fractals… It is also this beauty that I wanted to capture by taking their imprints during my wanderings or those of my friends who bring me back from their distant stays.My reflections have also been nourished by the thought of the Martiniquan poet and essayist Monchoachi. According to him, the Western world, by desacralizing nature, has mainly viewed it as a resource, an object of appropriation: “The threat to great natural balances was unstoppable as soon as the Western model presents itself as a break with nature, oriented towards its aggression…. As a break also with ancient wisdom, wherever it comes from.”

On the contrary, many other peoples have maintained a sacred connection with nature through their spiritualities. In The Forest and the Gods, Lydia Cabrera explains: “It is through trees, plants, leaves, and seeds that men trade with spirits and gods. Vegetation is the locus where the exchange of forces and signs between two worlds takes place.” It is these connections, this spirituality between humans and nature, that I have tried to convey in this work. The discovery of the documentary film Moana by Robert Flaherty, released in 1926, was an aesthetic shock. Its themes resonate with my reflections and inspired the series Lost Paradises, created partly during a stay in Togo in 2023. In these works, leaf imprints occupy more space on the page, sometimes saturating it; and the characters depicted are even tattooed with them.

This corresponds to the feeling one experiences in a rainforest, where the vegetation completely envelops you and where the plants themselves are of a different size than those in temperate regions. Claude Lévi-Strauss wrote upon arriving in Brazil: “Plants more abundant than those in Europe raise stems and leaves that seem cut from metal, so assured is their stance and so resilient is their form against the trials of time. Viewed from the outside, this nature is of a different order than ours, it demonstrates a higher degree of presence and permanence” (Tristes Tropiques). Some drawings from this series were also made with leaves from Haiti. At the invitation of a friend, I continued this exploration by residing all of October 2024 in Yangmingshan (Taiwan).

Through Taiwanese culture, the discovery of the works of the Palace Museum, the mountain landscapes very different from those of West Africa, the dense green of vegetation and the almost palpable air through the mist and clouds, my gesture has become lighter. The Chinese paper, both very thin and durable, and the works I have seen have led me to let the paper appear in the series Tales of Jade.This Odyssey concerns not only humans: it also connects with that of the plants themselves, which have always migrated, traveled, and populated new territories. Each leaf from which I take an imprint thus becomes a trace of this universal journey, a testament to the mobility and resilience of the living.From the French countryside to the forests of Africa and Asia, this artistic path is a quest for the sacred links that unite humans and nature from the very beginning, connections that we must rediscover or relearn at all costs: to inhabit the earth as best as we can. »

 Haude Bernabé, 2025

2025

« Odyssey », Galerie Claire Corcia, Paris

« Whispers », Sin Sin Fine art, Hong Kong

2024
‘ A corps d’histoires ‘, Galerie Claire Corcia, Paris

2023
‘Evasions ‘ Projet multidisciplinaire EM-FEST Essonne

2022
‘#marenostrum ‘ Peace movement, Orsay

2021
‘ Madame rêve ‘, Galerie Claire Corcia, Paris

Les voleurs de feu ” La Coopérative Musée Cérès Franco Montolieu

2019
‘ Métamorphoses ‘, Galerie Claire Corcia, Paris

2018
‘#marenostrum ‘ Eglise Saint Merry, Paris

2017
‘ Arty facts ‘ Maison des Arts, Chatillon
ART@ERA, Trèves, Allemagne
‘ Alter ego ‘ Artsupermarket Gallery/ FRENCH MAY, Hong Kong
‘ Carnival ‘ Amnesty International, Hong Kong

2016
‘ #marenostrum ‘ Villa Finaly, Florence
‘ Haude Bernabé/ Short cuts ‘ Lancement du livre et exposition Showroom Nathalie Garçon, Paris
‘ La peau et les mots ‘, Montolieu 

2015
‘ En grand format ‘ Inauguration de la Collection Cérès Franco – La Coopérative, Montolieu
Galerie Jacques Levy, Paris

2014
‘ Inside out ‘ Galerie  Claire Corcia, Paris

2013
‘ Désirs bruts, collection Cérès Franco ‘, Maison des Arts, Châtillon
‘ 20 ans après ‘ Maison des Arts – Châtillon
Art O’Clock, Gallery  Claire Corcia, Paris

2012
‘ Folie douce ‘ Galerie  Claire Corcia, Paris
‘ Sintra Arte Publica IX ‘, Portugal

2011
‘ Insolente réalité ‘ Galerie Claire Corcia, Paris
Chic Art Fair, Galerie  Claire Corcia, Paris

2010
‘ Elles rêvent d’Eros ‘ Galerie  Claire Corcia, Paris
Slick Art Fair, Heart Gallery et Frère Independent, Paris
Collection Cérès Franco – Musée des Beaux-Arts, Carcassonne
Gallery Recto Verso, Luxembourg
‘ El arte bajo pression ‘ Bancaja Fundacion Caja, Castellone 

2009
‘ Féminin pluriel ‘ Galerie Claire Corcia, Paris
‘ Biennale de sculptures ‘ Eglise de la Madeleine, Paris

2008
‘ Contrastes’ Maison des Arts, Chatillon.
Beautés ensorcelées ‘ Galerie Claire Corcia, Paris.

2007
Galerie Recto Verso, Luxembourg

2005
‘ Les Mitologies de Haude Bernabé i Pepe Donate ‘ Galleria  Favre, Barcelone.

‘ Les imagiers débridés ‘, Carcassonne

2004
‘ Triptyque ‘, Angers

‘ Bruissements d’Elles ‘ La Caserne Centre d’art, Joué les Tours
‘ Désirs Bruts ‘, Le Kremlin Bicêtre

2003
‘ Désirs bruts ‘ 6th Fine Art forum – Les Ulis, Le Kremlin Bicêtre
‘ Alchimie ‘ Galerie Geneviève Favre, Avignon
‘ Attention jeunes, Fête de l’Humanité ‘, La Courneuve

2002
Lineart, Galerie  Geneviève Favre, Gand, Belgique
Galerie Geneviève Favre, Avignon

2001
‘ Collection Cérès Franco – L’art sous tension ‘ Fondation d’entreprise Espace écureuil, Toulouse
Salon de mai, Paris

2000
‘ L’art chemin faisant ‘, Pont-Scorff
‘ Collection Cérès Franco ‘ Château de Belval, Miramas

1999
Biz’art carte blanche à Cérès Franco ‘, Bures sur Yvette

1998
‘ L’objet recréé ‘ 5° Forum d’art plastique en Ile de France, curateurs PIERRE RESTANY et GERARD XURIGUERA, Les Ulis

1996
‘ Jeux et jouets d’artistes ‘ Galerie Médiart, Paris

2016
‘ Short cuts ‘ livre monographique, textes de Christian Noorbergen et photographies de Gilles Abegg, Collection Catherine Kessedjian, Editions Lelivredart.

2013
‘ Une Vie, une Collection, Cérès Franco ‘, Centre d’Art Contemporain Raymond Farbos, Mont de Marsan.

2015
Artension, hors-série N°16, ‘ La sculpture aujourd’hui ‘

2010
‘ Collection Cérés Franco ‘, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Carcassonne, Château Comtal, Cité de Carcassonne.

2006
‘ LES SCULPTEURS DU METAL ‘, 66 portraits d’artistes, Dominique Dalemont, (SOMOGY EDITIONS d’ART).

2004
‘ Collection Cérès Franco, Un Art de l’Imaginaire Débridé ‘, Triptyque, Angers.

2003
Connaissance des Arts, « Désirs Bruts », 6e Forum des Arts Plastiques en Île-de-France.