There is a lot to like about Julien Lagueste: the way he merges sculpture and poetry, the way he draws from his childhood memories to tell a story, the way he turns materiality into emotion.
Trained in Architecture and Interior Architecture, he founded his own furniture studio to freely develop his creations and maintain a strong connection to manual craftsmanship. His studies opened a window onto the rich traditions of French artists and artisans, reinforcing an early desire to shape objects with his hands. His first collection, Souvenir des îles, caught collectors’ attention and was praised for its poetic, strong presence. The collection draws on the paradisiacal landscapes of his childhood and seeks a subtle balance between contemporary techniques and traditional craft. Digital cutting provides precision and efficiency for tasks that do not require artistic sensitivity, while hand-drawn forms and hand-worked resin convey the expressive essence of the series, making each piece unique and full of life.
Each work evolves slowly: once a promising form emerges, it is revisited and refined — “sometimes over the course of two years,” recalls Julien. “Time allows me to see details I cannot perceive at first glance.” This patient process allows him to achieve a satisfying equilibrium and supports a deliberate choice to favor bespoke pieces over quantity. “I like to think of Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s notion that the sea ‘rewards patience.’”
Lagueste continues to evolve his resin techniques through commissions, experimentation, and refinement. Much like Claude Monet’s Water Lilies, painted repeatedly from a singular source of inspiration, each of his creations becomes a distinct, dated memory of the islands and part of a broader, ever-growing body of work.
When looking closely at the coffee table named after the collection, we are hypnotically drawn to its variations of deep blue and the shifting hues revealed when viewed from different angles. This was Julien’s first design, created for his final-year diploma. First unveiled in 2019 at the Révélations exhibition at the Grand Palais, the table was immediately included in the permanent collection of the French institution Le Mobilier National. The birch plywood base is a poetic representation of eroded stone. The tabletop is crafted through a meticulous process of layering five coats of liquid resin mixed with pigments. As the resin hardens, the full range of ocean hues comes to life. Committed to eco-responsible and sustainable practices, Julien uses fine birch that is cut in a way that minimises waste and keeps the pieces as light as possible.
Creations conceived as sculptures, carved woods, and hand-cast resins have become the hallmarks of Julien’s one-of-a-kind designs. Simple and poetic, they evoke paradisiacal memories of fabulous seascapes. “My tables are a piece of furniture, a sculpture, and a painting all in one,” says Julien, as he conjures enchanting pieces of paradise we can’t wait to take home.
