M (Incrustations) - Sylvie Sandjian

Sylvie Sandjian worked with the architects Paul Chemetov and Huidobro on the development of the long pier stretching for almost 400 metres, starting from the back of the Grande Arche and overhanging the gardens of the arch in the continuity of the historical axis. Punctuating the handrail, 98 small bronze inlaid pieces punctuate the walk. As the passer-by lingers, he or she discovers sybilline inscriptions of an emblematic and poetic nature. The shapes are very varied: mouth, ear, human nose, shell, pieces of rope, nut, leaf... A plastic and inventive writing which seems to propose another reading of the places to those who know how to give it time.

A word about the artist

Born in 1953 in Villefranche sur Saône, in the Rhône, Sylvie Sandjian obtained her diploma in architecture in 1977 before working, 9 years later, as a visual artist. Her background partly explains her desire to use her work, which she divides between painting and sculpture, in the service of architectural sites. She uses her art to represent space or to intervene on buildings by expressing the spirit of the place, each site calling for a creative solution. She has notably worked with the architects Borja Huidobro and Paul Chemetov to fulfil commissions from La Défense. Open to many initiatives, she signed, with the same architects in 1989, a relief plan visible at the Ministry of Finance, as well as later, in 2006, 44 medallions integrated into the wall of an entrance hall. Also of note in 1993, a particularly original artwork, "16 histoires naturelles", at the Natural History Museum in Paris, bas-reliefs marking the place of passage and integrated into the main doors.