Carole Leroy

Carole Leroy is an accomplished French artist and sculptor, as well as a lecturer at the ENSBA Paris. After graduating with a degree in Applied Arts in 1989, she enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. It was there that she chose to focus her artistic practice on blacksmithing and metalwork. For her final project in 1994, she presented Formations, a collection of 34 forged pieces. Her work was praised by the jury and she was among the graduates exhibiting at Quai Malaquais. Until 1999, she continued to work with this material in an industrial-style forge, producing large-scale pieces. She created unique pieces to order, and this workshop enabled her to continue her research. At the same time, she designed sets for several plays at the ComĂ©die Française, including Clitandre (1996), for which she managed a team responsible for the three-dimensional construction of a metal set. In 2000, at the request of the École nationale supĂ©rieure des Beaux-Arts (ENSBA), she began teaching and became head of the Forge workshop in Pantin. Integrated as a new practice within the school, this workshop moved to a new site in Saint-Ouen in 2009. Her work expresses the uniqueness of her personal research, particularly in her use of blacksmithing tools and other materials such as clay and paper to create imprints. In 2007, she was invited to Morocco as a guest artist to create a wall of imprints. In 2008, she was the guest of honour at the Centre d'Histoire Sociale in Rouen. This collaboration enabled ENSBA students to undertake blacksmithing placements in Rouen in 2009.

Alongside her work in the forge, she also creates large-format monotypes and explores the potentials of rubber in a production factory. Inspired by her work with this material, ‘Ligamen’ – a reflection on connection – is a series of sculptures that she has exhibited at several art fairs. In 2011, she exhibited the piece 'Barcode', made of wrought iron and wood, alongside two large-format drawings at the 3rd Sculpture Biennale 'Inventing Singular Worlds' in Yerres, France. In 2012, she started working on larger-scale wrought iron pieces in collaboration with one of France's last remaining industrial forges.

Her passion for metalwork and dedication to teaching have inspired countless students and artists.