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Sculptor, “designer” of liturgical furniture, restorer of sacred places, Fleur Nabert launches a line of artist’s jewelry with a completely Theresian inspiration. A new adventure that does not lack inspiration. She confides in Aleteia.

Aleteia: Fleur, we know you as a sculptor and for your church renovations, such asthe Basilica of Saint-Avold . This fall, we are discovering your artistic gems. 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 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 is the same passionate and luminous quest to try to give a face to God, a form to grace. What was born of constraint became a fruit of Providence. Since I adorn the walls of our churches, it makes sense that I adorn "the temples of the Spirit" (Saint Paul) that are our bodies. I myself have always looked in the shops of sanctuaries 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 memory and a testimony, the sign of something that we love and that we show to others to share it. I have my baptismal medal of course, but I have always had trouble finding other "celebrations" of the Christian life that are beautiful to wear, spiritual, elegant and feminine. So I created them!

And your number one source of inspiration is Thérèse of Lisieux, whose feast day is on October 1st?
Thérèse is a dear friend. She came to get me one day, at the foot of a large three-meter bronze that I was inaugurating at the Saint-Christophe mutual, in the person of Father Lagoutte, the rector of Lisieux at the time. He asked me to redo the Notre-Dame du sourire chapel from floor to ceiling. On that occasion, I really met Thérèse through her writings and discovered not the Epinal image that I had of her but a bold soul that the rays of heaven freely pass through. And our story of friendship has not stopped since. I also created for her the cloister of mercy in Lisieux , a family reliquary with her parents who is in the United States, and another which is in the Saint-Avold basilica. 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 of a mother, so immense is her spiritual fertility throughout the world, and for women she is a beautiful friend... to call often!

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

I simply took her at her word! In the strict sense: I took up her words. When I was creating my jewelry in the early morning, I heard this sentence again: "After my death I will make a shower of roses fall." What does that mean? It is a promise of intercession. Confiding in Thérèse unties some of life's difficulties. Oh no, not magically because she would cast a spell from heaven. This is not Harry Potter! But because she helps us to reshape our hearts and change our outlook on our lives. There is no magic, there is simply a more attentive listening to Providence at its school, a peace of heart that sets in and makes us live what Psalm 130 says: "I keep my soul even and silent; my soul is within me like a child, like a little child against its mother." I believe in the effectiveness of Thérèse... to transform us. So these jewels, all inspired by his words, are reminders and encouragements to surrender to his conviction: "Everything is grace". These rose petals that fly freely in the resin, these radiant gold leaves whisper it every day in our ears. As an artist, I do not know how to make an object, even a beautiful one, that would be devoid of meaning. I work the material to transcend it through the depth of what it will signify.

According to the famous formula, do you think that beauty will save the world?
No. Love alone. But beauty is for me the tangible trace of God in the world. Beauty is the sign of truth and radiance, the smile of good. I had a strong experience of it in another way during confinement: I had worked with Magnificat publishing on the selection of works of art for the bookOsez entrer dans la vie éternelle by Pierre-Marie Varennes. This book is a UFO, it is unique. It is a retreat of inner life to do at home… which during confinement took on a tenfold meaning.

Do you often work with Magnificat?
I have the joy of writing comments on sculptural works and participating in certain artistic events, including the Magnificat Days that take place in the United States. And it is 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 little flame that shone without going out while I was in the jaws of the prep classes!

And what are the plans for the coming months?

There are many! The heart of my work remains sculpture, whether in bronze, wood or glass via thermoformed stained glass windows. At the moment, there is work on the job: a Christ in glory and a tabernacle in Moselle, a whole liturgical ensemble linked to 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 Saint-Louis-des-Français church in Rome. I feel very small in the face of this request, but I will put all my strength into it so that my heart makes its way, through my hands, towards the material and that it begins to shine.

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