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Sculptor, liturgical furniture "designer," restorer of sacred places, Fleur Nabert launches a line of artist's jewelry inspired by Thérèse. A new adventure full of inspiration. She confides in Aleteia.

Aleteia: Fleur, we know you as a sculptor and for your church installations, such as that of the Basilica of Saint-Avold. This new season, we discover your artist's jewelry. Tell us about this new adventure!
Fleur Nabert: This adventure began during the lockdown. I was at home with my three little ones, all my sculpture, furniture, and stained-glass window projects were stopped, and I had a vital need to create. I found the same freedom to dream in the three-centimeter mold of a medallion as in an entire choir. It's the same passionate and luminous quest to try to give a face to God, a form to grace. What was born out of constraint became a fruit of Providence. Since I adorn the walls of our churches, it makes sense for me to adorn "the temples of the Spirit" (Saint Paul) that our bodies are. I myself have always looked in sanctuary shops for jewelry that reflects what my heart had experienced and reminds me of it in everyday life. For me, a piece of jewelry is both a remembrance and a testimony, a sign of something we love and show to others to share it. I, of course, have my baptism medal, but I've always struggled to find other "celebrations" of Christian life that are beautiful to wear, spiritual, elegant, and feminine. So I created them!

And your number one source of inspiration is Thérèse de Lisieux, whose feast day is October 1st, by the way?
Thérèse is a dear friend. She came to find me one day, at the foot of a large three-meter bronze that I was inaugurating at the Saint-Christophe mutual insurance company, in the person of Father Lagoutte, the rector of Lisieux at that time. He asked me to redo the Notre-Dame du Sourire chapel from floor to ceiling. On that occasion, I truly encountered Thérèse through her writings and discovered not the clichéd image I had of her, but a daring soul through whom the rays of heaven passed freely. And our friendship has not ceased since. I also created for her the Cloister of Mercy in Lisieux, a family reliquary with her parents that is in the United States, and another that is in the Basilica of Saint-Avold. Each time I worked to try to put her spirituality into images: a mixture of strength, tenderness, simplicity, humility, and femininity. Because yes, Thérèse is truly the heart of a young woman and even a mother, so immense is her spiritual fruitfulness throughout the world, and for women she is a beautiful friend... to call upon often!

But how do you put all that into a piece of jewelry?

I simply took her at her word! Literally: I used her words. When I was creating my jewelry in the early morning, I heard this phrase again: "After my death, I will let fall a shower of roses." What does that mean? It's a promise of intercession. Entrusting oneself to Thérèse unties some of life's difficulties. Oh no, not magically because she would cast a spell from heaven. This isn't Harry Potter! But because she helps us reshape our hearts and change our perspective on our lives. There's no magic, there's simply a more attentive listening to Providence in her school, a peace of heart that settles in and makes us live what Psalm 130 says: "I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me." I believe in Thérèse's effectiveness... to transform us. So these jewels, all inspired by her words, are reminders and encouragements to abandon ourselves to her conviction: "All is grace." These rose petals flying freely in the resin, these gold leaves radiating, whisper it to our ears every day. As an artist, I cannot make an object, even a beautiful one, that would be devoid of meaning. I work with matter to transcend it through the depth of what it will signify. 

According to the famous phrase, do you believe beauty will save the world?
No. Only love. But for me, beauty is the perceptible trace of God in the world. Beauty is the sign of truth and the radiance, the smile of goodness. I had a strong experience of this through another means during lockdown: I had worked with Magnificat editions on the selection of artworks for the book Dare to enter eternal life by Pierre-Marie Varennes. This book is a UFO, it's unique. It's an indoor spiritual retreat... which took on tenfold meaning during lockdown. 

Do you often work with Magnificat?
I have the joy of writing commentaries on sculptural works for them and participating in certain artistic events, notably the Magnificat Days held in the United States. And they are my family of heart. When I found faith years ago, Magnificat was in my pocket in the morning when I walked up rue Soufflot, a small flame that glowed without extinguishing even though I was in the maw of preparatory classes!

And what are the projects for the coming months?

They are numerous! The core of my work remains sculpture, whether in bronze, wood, or glass through thermoformed stained glass. Currently, there is a lot of work in progress: a Christ in glory and a tabernacle in Moselle, a whole liturgical ensemble in connection with an extraordinary contemporary organ in a village at the foot of the Alps, a project for large sculpted glass doors to create a weekday chapel, the desire to create glass icons, and then the rare emotion of having won the competition to create the statue of King Saint Louis on the rear facade of the church of Saint-Louis-des-Français in Rome. I feel very small facing this request, but I will put all my strength into it so that my heart makes its way, through my hands, to the material and that it begins to radiate.  

Discover Fleur Nabert's jewelry at fleurnabertcreations.com. Also find her sculptures at fleurnabert.com.