
Paola De Narvaez' work revolves around key themes that resonate throughout her various creations. Her ideas revolve around movement, the universality of our view of the world, and the completeness of the object through mental collaboration between the work and the public. This is expressed through the dynamism of form, fullness and emptiness, and the balance of forces that are the source of creation.
Her works seem in suspense, waiting. Prisoners of the past but also of the future, Paola De Narvaez' immobile works abolish the real temporality between the ancestral and the new. The two worlds meet and question each other, with the public as witness.
The materials used are a direct reference to the object's durability. Ceramics and stone are the oldest vestiges of humanity. Can art survive the centuries? Can the work transcend the ages and bear witness to our current view of past worlds?
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Paola De Narvaez lives and works in Antwerp, Belgium.
Illustrative foundations
Always surrounded by art and design, Paola never considered working in any other field. She studied Textile design in Paris at ESAA Duperré and Mastered in Graphic Design and Communication at ENSAV La Cambre in Brussels (2018). In the past few years, she worked for fashion brands Essentiel Antwerp, Bellerose, Atelier Crump. She also worked as an illustrator for City of Brussels, The Royal Museum for Central Africa of Tervuren, magazine La Grande Oreille, TedXParis 2018 and 2019 editions, and many others.
Ceramic art and teaching
Her Pao Ceramic collections have been featured in various shops in Europe, like Tangerine Sunshine (Antwerp), The Ode To (Stockholm) and Yonobi (Copenhagen). Paola collaborated with the Mayer Van Den Bergh museum shop in Antwerp to create bespoke ceramic pieces, inspired by the permanent collection of the Dutch and Flemish masters. She also participated in the 2022 “1000Vases” exhibition in Paris.
Not long after taking hand-building ceramics classes at Sukoon Studio in Antwerp, Paola became one of the studio’s teachers herself, specializing in hand-building ceramics and, more specifically, painting on clay.
Sculpture
Driven by a search for greater sensitivity in her practice, Paola has increasingly turned to sculpture. By modelling her subjects on a larger scale and working with new materials (plaster, concrete, wax, epoxy, and others) she opens up a broader field of possibilities, allowing her to continually deepen her exploration of tactility, movement, and poetic expression.
Publications
2023 — 2026 Illustrations of the Museum prescriptions @ Bruxelles Ville (Brussels)
2020 — juil. Africa Museum Tervuren: Livret Parcours Mabele @Tervuren
2020 — jan. Africa Museum Tervuren: Livret Parcours Watoto @Tervuren
2019 — nov. La Cambre Illustre, Picture Festival @Brussels
2018 — 2019 La Grande Oreille Magazine
2018 — 2019. fr.boma.global
2018 — nov. TEDxParis
2017 — mar. Bien Fait! children book (Text by Jane Oshka, Versant Sud Jeunesse ed.)
2016 — mar. Rugissement dans la nuit children book (Versant Sud Jeunesse ed.)
Awards
2018 — nov. Winner of the online poster contest "Pas mon Genre" organized by @Étapes Graphique (France)
2018 — oct. Conference at the Museum of Musical Instruments on graduation project.
Organized by Ohm project (Brussels, Belgium)
2018 — jan. White Raven selection for Children book Bien Fait! (Versant Sud Jeunesse ed.)
2017 — mar. CNL support for Children book Bien Fait! (Versant Sud Jeunesse ed.)
Diplomas
2018 — jun. Master Graphic Design & Visual Communication — Great Distinction — @ENSAV La Cambre (Brussels, Belgium)
2016 — jun. Bachelor Graphic Design & Visual Communication @ENSAV La Cambre (Brussels, Belgium)
2013 — may. BTS Textile Design @ESAA Duperré (Paris, France)