a unique relationship between earth, fire and creation

“I am a potter, a ceramist, not a craftsman or a visual artist, and above all not an artist.” In “La Main Sauvage”, a documentary co-directed by Alexis Pierlot and Jonathan Safir, Hervé Rousseau, a great ceramist from La Borne, lets us penetrate his intimate world as a clay midwife, where each gesture gives life to the material.

La Main Sauvage follows the journey of Hervé Rousseau, a ceramist based in Boisdelle, a hamlet in the commune of Henrichemont, located not far from La Borne, a historic village in Cher renowned for its long tradition of pottery. This place, in the heart of Berry, is a true melting pot of contemporary pottery, where tradition and innovation meet. Through a year of creation, the film explores Hervé Rousseau’s intimate relationship with earth and fire, essential elements of his artistic process.

After starting in 1977 as an apprentice with master ceramist Augusto Tozzola, he refined his know-how in Quebec and the south of France. In 1981, he moved to Boisdelle with his partner Josette Miquel, then with Isabelle Pammachius.

“There’s always been someone. I don’t know if I could live on my own, actually. I don’t think so.”

“I can’t look at an object if there isn’t something around it. I have to know the person who made it. It’s like a book.”

Hervé Rousseau knows that an object created by his hands carries the very essence of the one who created it. He knows intimately this melee between the earth and man, whose work abandons itself to the dance of fire. This subtle union of elements, enriched with an element of mystery, plays out the soul of a unique creation.

“I look at a pot, I feel the spirals, the way it was turned, or the imprints, it has to speak to me. When you learn to turn very classically, you erase all traces on a piece. I put a lot of time to come out of that thing, knowing that that’s not what I want to express.” “How to make a handle that is alive, not dead. It’s a need, it’s weird, not even normal!”

“At the beginning, I told myself that I would do artisanal work, as a stonemason. I went to see the companions in Paris for an interview and everything, and then finally, I realized that stone is hard. The earth is cool, it’s soft, it’s soft.”

The earth finally eclipsed the stone, and this story, which began in 1977, has never stopped.

The earth that Hervé Rousseau uses in his work is natural, raw clay, extracted from quarries. After being crushed, it is kneaded in the workshop before being shaped. The modeling process begins with a primitive dance, where the feet hammer the material and sink into the earth, following a rhythmic rhythm. With each movement, the clay tames under the effort. Between embrace and struggle, an exchange of raw energy begins where man and matter give themselves to each other.

In 1997, when Josette fell ill and could no longer work, Hervé found himself alone in the workshop, caught in a creative emergency. He had to continue what they had built together:

“I tried to continue doing a little bit of what Jo was doing, decorating, enameling, because that’s what made us live.”

The “wild” work of the American Peter Voulkos then resonated deeply within him. His raw approach, leaving footprints and punches in the earth, matched what he felt: a way to release his emotions without restraint. Hervé then launched into a creative frenzy, where form became secondary, only expression counted:

“No longer think too much, I don’t think, especially not. It’s more in the form, it’s more constructed, it’s letting go of everything, it’s good, it’s not good, accepting what you’ve done.”

Over time, however, the hand gesture lingered to extend the story. Less impatient, Hervé slowly softened his work. He who liked to go to the essential finds himself smoothing out, finding pleasure in this interlude.

“There is still the notion of skin somewhere. It’s a puzzle, not in the shapes, but in the touch, in the modeling, it’s sensual all the same.”

When Hervé arrived in Boisdelle, there was already an oven, but he didn’t like it. “A potter has to build his kiln for me, he’s like a baby, it’s very personal.” The oven constrains him but gives him a line, a path that suits him.

The proportions come from the oven

“The oven is lit for eight days. The first three days of preheating, followed by five days at high temperature. The oven first rises to 1300°C, then drops to 1000-1100°C, before rising again to 1300°C.” This cycle of rise and fall in temperature is repeated several times over the course of forty-eight hours.

This cooking creates a superposition of materials and atmospheres, mixing ashes, oxidation and reduction, which influence the earth in a complex way. Although the artists watch over the kiln, the process remains largely unpredictable. “The weather, the cookers, the atmosphere of cooking with people, there are lots of things that play a role… “And it’s always fire magic that will have the last word.

Whatever comes out of that oven is good no matter what.

The time is punctuated by these times of cooking, preparation of the wood, loading, removing and cooling. Time stretches and teaches patience.

Around the oven, a warm and friendly communion is created between the fire watchers. Together, they infuse energy and vibration that influence cooking, adding extra soul to the creations that let themselves be bitten by the flames.

La Borne is above all a tradition of potters that has been perpetuated for generations, producing ceramics that are both simple and of great beauty. In the 1950s, many artists settled on this site, creating works of remarkable purity.

La Borne is also a story of exchanges and encounters: painters, sculptors, and even foreigners, coming from all walks of life, have left their mark on this emblematic place. They have all left a mark, shaping a rich collective adventure over the years.

Like his rough hands, shaped by work and creating works of art, Hervé Rousseau hides his sensitivity under laughter, unfinished sentences, looks and silences.

As he would do with his pottery, he observes the contours, the overflow and the emptiness of the other, in search of what escapes words. The emotion is palpable when he talks about his childhood, his parents and reads the letter that his daughter wrote to her mother who left too soon.

Each of his works is a living object that carries this hidden treasure within itself.

The Wild Hand is a documentary co-directed by Alexis Pierlot and Jonathan Safir, a co-production of Tikkoun Films and France Télévisions.

► “The Wild Hand”, a film to discover on Thursday November 21 at 11:05 p.m. in France in real on France 3 Centre-Val de Loire, available in preview and replay on france.tv.