Laure Forêt
The skin as a boundary, glass as memory 

Laure Forêt’s work stems from a fundamental question about the relationship between the inner world and the outer world. In this respect, the skin constitutes an important starting point: as a boundary between the body and the environment, but also as a surface on which experiences, memories and emotions leave their mark.

Within the context of ‘remnants of the past’, her practice is closely tied to the idea of vestiges and traces. For Laure Forêt, memories are not only linked to the past, but also to the way in which something continues to exist after it has seemingly disappeared. Just as archaeological discoveries bear witness to a vanished world, materials and works of art can also bear the traces of what once existed.

Glass plays a central role here. According to Laure Forêt, this material lies at the intersection of different states: liquid and solid, fragile and resilient, transparent and tangible. It also carries its own history within it. In the works from the Fossile series (2025), she uses hand-blown glass as a sort of skin upon which imprints of plants, sea urchins or anemones appear. These images do not refer to the sea itself, but to organisms that existed long before us and which carry a history within them. The title Fossile refers to stones in which the remains of ancient life forms have been preserved. These works, too, function as imprints: they all bear witness to a past that is becoming visible once more. The flesh-coloured hue of the glass reinforces the association with the body and raises questions about the relationship between humankind, nature and time.

A key element in Laure Forêt’s work is the active role of the viewer. Her works invite the viewer to draw near, to examine the material and to observe closely. Like an archaeologist slowly unearthing a relic, the viewer is invited to discover hidden layers.

In her works composed of glass beads, such as Chrysalide IV (2026) and Ecorce II (2026), she once again explores the tension between fragility and strength. These fragile structures are made up of countless tiny elements linked together by an almost invisible metal wire. Starting from the centre, the work extends outwards in concentric circles, like an organic structure taking shape during the creative process.

The circular form recurs regularly in his work, evoking both microscopic cellular structures and cosmic forms, the small and the infinite. The circle takes on a sacred significance: a shape found in nature, but one that humankind also associates with rituals, stained-glass windows and contemplation.

 
In the works depicting hands and in Jessé (2026), the idea of memory and connection recurs. The hands, originally conceived as studies for a larger-scale installation in Caen, France, seem to be rising: perhaps from a grave, perhaps towards the sky. They evoke disappearance and reappearance. The Tree of Jessé refers to the tradition in which a tree symbolises genealogy and the link between generations. In Laure Forêt’s work, this motif is reinterpreted as a metaphor for the relationships, roots and complex structures that connect all living beings.

 
The small glass droplets (Déliquescence II, 2024–2026) that recur in various works also hold a story within them. Laure Forêt makes them herself in her studio by melting glass. There is something almost alchemical about this transformation of the material. A drop of water may seem small and fleeting, but, in her view, it holds immense depth. Just as water can both preserve memories and wash them away, the glass drops combine fragility, depth and change.

Laure Forêt’s work constantly straddles the boundaries between categories: between nature and culture, the body and the environment, the past and the future, fragility and strength. Her works remind us that nothing disappears completely: everything leaves a trace.

Els Wuyts
Exhibition remnants of my past, Salon Blanc, Ostend (BE)
August 2026