Xavier Clarisse, a Durban based artist and designer, was born in Lyon, France in 1970 and spent his youth cultivating a passion for design. He attended L’Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts specialising in sculpture and product design and has worked in France, the UK and now South Africa.
Living in South Africa, Clarisse is inspired by his local surroundings – both nature and the local aesthetic. The abundant sub-tropical vegetation, vibrant colour and diversity of his hometown Durban is reflected in many of his designs.
As a maker he finds inspiration in the process of exploring materials and likes to experiment with these in both established ways and those of his own developing. Running through Clarisse’s work is a theme of the theatricality of the object itself, of interactivity, movement and playfulness.
Clarisse’s current area of design focus is lighting and he has a range of sculptural light designs most notably the Delicious Light and the Blade Light.
Clarisse has always been interested in the world of fashion and has recently translated his techniques of working leather into wearable design. His first range of jewelry titled ‘Linear’ takes the form of bold, sculptural pieces crafted from quality veg tanned leather with brass details. The contours of the accessories draw inspiration from many sources – from the lines of Op Art, Art Deco and pleating as well as indigenous design and colour.
Clarisse’s artwork is represented in the Durban Art Gallery collection and the sculptures are a permanent installation in the Moses Mabhida Stadium public art collection. His interactive, mechanical sculpture ’King Protea’ can be found in the Presidential suite.
His ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ was commissioned by the Art and Global Health Centre, UCLA for an international travelling exhibition and is now in the permanent collection of the University of Witwatersrand Adler Museum.
He is also featured in corporate collections such as Nando’s. Clarisse has contributed to the Southern Guild’s ‘Extra Ordinary’, ‘Colour Field’, 10th Anniversary ‘SGX’ and ‘Solace’ exhibitions. In 2022 the Southern Guild selected his piece, ‘Trapeze Blue’, to be part of their collection at the exclusive Salon Art + Design in New York.
