Métro'folies - Exposition - Géométries Végétales Illustrées

In Art Deco, the plant motif is represented in a stylized, almost abstract way - shapes are simplified, the complexity of natural hues gives way to monochrome surfaces, the structure of the plant is suggested by straight or spiral lines, the outline symbolized by a regular geometric shape.
This is the perspective from which the botanical illustrations presented in this exhibition were created. While remaining faithful to the constraints of naturalistic description, they seek to make visible the mathematical matrix that governs the growth and arrangement of the various plant parts. Symmetries, spirals, lines, folds, regular shapes - geometry can be found in every aspect of the organization of the plant world.

The exhibition also features a dialogue between these "illustrated plant geometries" and photographs of plant-inspired Art Deco decorations in the Greater Nancy area.
Claire Billiotte has always drawn. In 2019, she discovered the practice of botanical watercolor during a workshop with artist Elisabeth Vitou in Paris. Since then, she has continued to deepen her technique and confront the motifs she finds in the forest, on a sidewalk or on a market stall. Using simple means, her work highlights details and oscillates between the honesty of scientific description and the suggestiveness of pure invention.
Claire Billiotte is a member of the Société Nationale d'Horticulture de France, and of the AsPIB, Association des Passionnés d'Illustration Botanique.

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