Atelier Alain Ellouz, the Alabaster Charmer
Published on 3 March 2023
Alain Ellouz composes transparent luminaires in alabaster with a surprisingly refined design, making this stone adopt aerial curves. Truly Magical.
A first suspension seems light as a cloud, whose plump curves it adopts. A second looks like a Moon floating in weightlessness. The third is an undulating luminescent serpentine, drawing the symbol of infinity. Their clarity is as soft as a starry evening. Only by reaching out to weigh them can we realise the obvious: all these objects are indeed made out of alabaster, heavy as stone, subtle as a veil woven by a celestial hand. Alain Ellouz's workshop has become an undisputed reference, mastering the art of enchanting this stone known for its softness and clarity since Antiquity. For 17 years, he has been perfecting the “Alabaster Carpenter” profession, refining exclusive techniques to domesticate this friable material to give it unexpected shapes.
“We are the only ones in the world who can produce works like the Infinity Luminaire,” proudly states Alain Ellouz. This practice requires exact technical skills and a taste for risk: one imprecision, and the block splits. The curves of the Infinity Luminaire result from an invisible assembly of sections cut into a half-pipe. It is then necessary to carefully choose perfectly matching stone veins. The whiter the stone you want, the deeper you have to dig. Extracted more on the soil’s surface, alabaster is first streaked with black veins of sediment, which also have admirable effects. For a perfectly spherical globe, you must cut from a block of 350 kilos, then patiently hollow it out by hand to leave just a centimetre thick and reveal the stone's transparency.
The art of assembly, polishing, the hand's skill and the eye's subtlety required years of development. “The simplicity of our designs allows alabaster to resonate like a free material,” explains the designer. Added to this is an unusual way of concealing the lighting to complete the magic. “We don't understand where the light comes from.” Since 2014, the Alain Ellouz workshop has published a collection of exceptional lighting works designed by Marion Biais-Sauvètre and a studio of five designers. “Marion got involved at the start of the adventure in 2005. I had two chances in my life: to meet the alabaster and to meet Marion.”
Initially, the workshop began by producing entire backlit stone walls and precious bars before inventing pivoting walls, and luminous furniture, collaborating with architects and decorators. The Atelier thus worked on fitting out the Van Cleef, Cartier, Chaumet, and Dior boutiques. Then came the line of lighting. “We went through all the adventures together, says Alain Ellouz. Alabaster is like an allegory of entrepreneurial life. Every mistake has its consequences. You have to push through and make each accident a great opportunity. You also have to take the risk of daring.”
“Alabaster without light is like a world without music.”
Nothing predestined Alain Ellouz to work in arts and crafts. An entrepreneur at heart, he had his first success with a computer company. It happened during a holiday. He tried his hand at sculpture over a random summer course. Little did he know he was thus meeting with his destiny. “Instead of the planned two hours, I stayed there the entire holiday!” Then comes the encounter with alabaster. “I had created a kind of tulip, and I had the idea of lighting it from the inside. As soon as it lit up, a world opened up before me. It's as if the material spoke to me. I often say that an alabaster without light is a world without music. This stone has incredible power.”
Since then, alabaster has been Alain’s all-time companion, and its presence feels almost supernatural. Farewell to IT, Alain Ellouz will now be on daring alabaster. By exhibiting at Maison&Objet, he convinced his first decorator customers, thanks to the contemporary and refined design of Marion Biais-Sauvètre, which reveals the modernity of this stone too often treated in an outdated way. He opened an office in New York and conquered the American market. Following this revelation, the entrepreneur discovered meditation at the turn of a life that suddenly finds meaning. His days now begin with a daily meditation session, and he secures ten days each year for a total break of deep meditation based upon the Vipassana’s techniques. “Like alabaster, this philosophy teaches you nothing is serious or definitive. It is an attitude of freedom, and acceptance of hazards, which is a key value for an entrepreneur.”
Pushing his passion further, Alain Ellouz created a Foundation in his name, “For Alabaster”, and allowed artists to explore this medium's possibilities. Sculpture, painting and engraving on a stone open up new horizons. “Master paintings appropriated alabaster landscapes to give them a new artistic dimension. We went even further by introducing photography, digital art, and performance. We are opening up a field of possibilities”. This foray into the art already has its applications in the collections which can be custom-ordered and enhanced with an artist's engraving or illumination. Decorative art is on a whole new rise!
By Caroline Tossan
Illustration ©Sarah Bouillaud