Pascal Oudet

He cites Paul Valéry and Saint-Exupéry. His treasure is his stock of wood. An École Centrale engineering graduate, he chose an artistic profession and has never regretted this choice. Winner of the Liliane Bettencourt Prize pour Intelligence de la Main 2023 for his work Laissez entrer le soleil (Let the sun in), Pascal Oudet is a passionate woodturner. In his workshop, each tree has a story to tell. The trees are chosen green, i.e. fresh. So if he is called upon for a commission but does not have the right wood, it will have to wait until the next felling season. Here, wood is treated just like strawberries. The wait makes the experience better, even unforgettable.

At the Domain of Chaumont-sur-Loire, Pascal Oudet is exhibiting Laissez entrer le soleil, in which the infinite delicate nature of lace portrays the sheer power of the oak tree. This is one of the artist’s most accomplished pieces, combining his artistic approach and exceptional skill. In technical terms, the artwork was created from a 70-year-old oak tree from a forest in the French department of Côte d’Or. A part of the trunk (60 cm in diameter and 100 kg) was patiently worked until this staggeringly lightweight sculpture was created (a mere 300 g). The astonishing form reveals the oak tree’s intimate history, highlighting the rings that each represent a stage in its growth and incidents throughout its life, the quality of its environment and the climatic conditions that allowed it to thrive. The artwork hints at the silent vulnerability of our damaged ecosystem, and the outer edges of the piece carry the impact of four consecutive years of exceptional drought that altered its development. Laissez entrer le soleil is not only an ode to beauty, it is also a tool to advocate for the protection of trees and forests that are essential for the survival of humanity.

With support from the Bettencourt Schueller foundation, Pascal Oudet is planning to work on a whole tree, not just parts of the trunk. This monumental project implies a major change in scale and will take his artistic approach to a new level. He also hopes to soon acquire a small wood where he will, just simply, watch the trees grow.

Pascal Oudet was born in 1972 in Vesoul and is an artistic wood turner. He is most probably the only École Centrale graduate with a speciality in electronics to devote his time to woodworking. At first, woodturning was merely a pastime for him. But in trying to highlight the grains of the wood, the engineer once went too far and pierced a piece of wood that had become too thin. The rings that detached from this piece revealed an effect he found so interesting, it became the subject of his work. With patience and determination, Pascal Oudet developed his lacework in wood technique, reducing his engineering profession to a part-time position, and devoting the rest of every waking hour to woodturning. His unique creations quickly started to draw attention. He grew passionate about this practice and so the creator decided to leave his career in engineering behind him. He has been a professional woodturner since 2005 and devotes his time solely to lacework in wood.

Pascal Oudet lives near Grenoble and is a member of the French Artistic Woodturning Association. He is also a board member and treasurer at the Ateliers d’Art de France.