Jephan de Villiers. Arboglyphes

Arboglyphes is the sequel to Jephan de Villiers' book, Figures of Silence, published in 2021.
Jephan de Villiers' writings fly from conscience to conscience. They might be Arabic, Indian or African. Ho­rizontal or vertical, over the years they have become a series of musical scores. Scales, even. Not a day goes by without him writing.
"I always write standing up, as if my body was already moving towards something else, the other, as if I was about to move across the paper."
Every day, this instinctive movement towards the other provides a vital thread, a connection in an existence sur­rounded by glyphs, whose airy furrows have dug their way into the incandescent humus of memory.
From the Preface by Caroline Lamarche


JEPHAN DE VILLIERS
It was around the age of fourteen that Jephan de Villiers began to make his huge earth villages from the soil, leaves and pieces of bark that he collected in his grandmother's garden in Chesnay, near Versailles. The circus, theatre and mime were also among his passions. His work as a sculptor and poet has continued ever since. In the 1960s, he encountered Constantin Brancusi's reconstituted studio. In 1966, his Structures Aquatiales went on show in Paris. A year later, he settled in London where his work was shown regularly. In 1976, he discovered the Forêt de Soignes, the Sonian Forest near Brussels, where his Voyage en Arbonie (Journey into Arbonia) began. Since 2000, he has lived and worked in Charente-Maritime, not far from the River Gironde. His work invites us to set aside our daily lives and discover an imaginary civilisation that seems to have emerged from a past where humans and nature lived as one. A number of exhibitions have been devoted to his work. His sculptures can be seen in the open air in parks and public spaces, as well as in museums and private collections. "Des Fragments de mémoires" (Fragments of Memory) have been shown in exhibitions across the world.

Arboglyphes est la suite du livre Jephan de Villiers, Des Figures de silence,, paru en 2021.
Les écritures de Jephan de Villiers volent de conscience en conscience. Elles pourraient être arabes, indiennes, africaines. Horizontales ou verticales, elles constituent, au fil des ans, une partition. Des gammes plutôt. Pas un jour sans écriture.
« J'écris toujours debout, comme si mon corps se dirigeait déjà vers l'autre, comme si j'allais traverser la feuille ». Cet élan vers l'autre est le fil rouge, quotidien, vital, d'une existence placée sous le signe des glypes, ces sillons aériens creusés à même la terre incandescente de la mémoire.
Extrait de la préface par Caroline Lamarche


JEPHAN DE VILLIERS
C'est vers l'âge de quatorze ans que Jephan de Villiers commence à réaliser d'immenses villages de terre, d'écorces et de feuilles dans le jardin de sa grand-mère au Chesnay près de Versailles. Il aime le cirque, le théâtre et le mime. Son travail de sculpteur et de poète ne s'arrêtera jamais. Dans les années soixante, il découvre l'atelier reconstitué de Constantin Brancusi. Naissance des Structures Aquatiales à Paris en 1966. Un an plus tard, il s'installe à Londres et y expose régulièrement son travail. En 1976, il découvre la forêt de Soignes près de Bruxelles. Le Voyage en Arbonie commence. Depuis 2000, il vit et travaille en Charente Maritime non loin de la Gironde. Il nous invite à quitter notre quotidien pour nous plonger dans une civilisation imaginaire qui semble être d'un passé où l'homme et la nature ne faisaient qu'un. De très nombreuses expositions lui sont consacrées. Ses sculptures sont présentes dans des lieux publics ouverts, dans des musées et dans de nombreuses collections privées. « Des Fragments de mémoires » ont été exposés à travers le monde.

Arboglyphes is the sequel to Jephan de Villiers' book, Figures of Silence, published in 2021.
Jephan de Villiers' writings fly from conscience to conscience. They might be Arabic, Indian or African. Ho­rizontal or vertical, over the years they have become a series of musical scores. Scales, even. Not a day goes by without him writing.
"I always write standing up, as if my body was already moving towards something else, the other, as if I was about to move across the paper."
Every day, this instinctive movement towards the other provides a vital thread, a connection in an existence sur­rounded by glyphs, whose airy furrows have dug their way into the incandescent humus of memory.
From the Preface by Caroline Lamarche