Camiers. Fleur Nabert, the artist of light, captured the sun at the Saint-Félicien chapel

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In Camiers – Sainte-Cécile (Pas-de-Calais)the beauty of the beach has found a rival, or an extension: the Saint-Félicien chapel, enlarged and renovated. Reopened after work, it was inaugurated this summer. We met on site the artist who sublimated it, Fleur Nabert.

First, the exterior. Her immaculate white dress calls. The Saint-Félicien chapel is not new to Camiers-Sainte-Cécile, built in 1964 a few dozen meters from the beach. But its facelift, the work of architect Marc Lenouvel, is spectacular.

Visual slap

The building has, as a bow, a huge exterior cross in the extension of the walls, in the same cloud color. If this external architecture is surprising, it is upon entering the chapel that we receive one of the most beautiful visual “slaps” of our lives.

The chapel is not very large, but it is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful religious buildings in the region. We move forward, hesitant, attracted by a light, like a magnet! It comes from the stained glass windows representing the beach and the sea. It almost feels like we are facing the real setting or rising sun!

The artist who transfigured the place is Fleur Nabert. A recognized sculptor and creator of religious jewelry, she is a regular visitor to churches. Chapel of Lisieux, collegiate church of Eu, basilica of St-Avold, chapel of the Gare de Lyon, and even the American reliquary of Saints Louis and Zélie Martin, the young woman multiplies religious projects.

Almost a carte blanche

For the Saint-Félicien chapel, she “almost” had carte blanche. “But there were 3 requests from the parish to respect: it was necessary to take inspiration from the landscapes of the Opal Coast, to create a statue of the Virgin like an apparition and without electricity and for people to come away more believers from the place! » A big challenge!

A wall of 33 meters of glass, a glass roof made up of 10 immense doors almost 3 meters high, this is what awaited the artist. Also on the program was the creation of all the liturgical furniture, from the central cross to the baptistery. In this project, as much spiritual as physical, Fleur Nabert put all her delicacy, all her faith, all her art, down to the smallest detail. Words are insufficient to express the beauty of this work.

Thermoformed

The “complete work” aspect of the Camiers chapel did not scare her, since she has already carried out this type of project elsewhere, “I love it! » she breathes. Thus, in 2019, she carried out the complete interior design of the Saint-Avold basilica in the East, creating the liturgical furniture, a reliquary, the interior paintings including that of the dome…

In Camiers, she surrounded herself with a great team, like the Ateliers Loire. “I am a conductor, I work in collaboration with artisans,” she says. But she is “very interventionist,” she confides. It uses thermoformed glass, the most contemporary stained glass technique, lead-free. The glass has reliefs. “I hand-carved every detail.” The drops of water, for example, are the marks of the artist’s fingers! Each element is hollowed out on a plaster plate. Then, a glass plate, sprinkled with colored powders, is placed on this sculpted “bed” and placed in the oven for 48 hours at 800 degrees.

The sun of Christ and the beach

In Camiers, she experienced a great first: “I had never created a landscape! »And not just any landscape: that of a beach. “How can we synthesize the ever-changing Opal Coast in a fixed stained glass window? I spent time on the beach to immerse myself in this atmosphere. What struck me the most were the sunsets with their flaming clouds. One of the representations of Christ is the sun.” She conceived the place as “the sun of Christ which comes to smooth out our shadows…”

It is a true spiritual approach that is proposed, as recalled by Father Luc Dubrulle, episcopal vicar of Touquet-Etaples, who regularly comes to celebrate in the St-Félicien chapel.

There is a natural movement, a path that leads from the back of the church, up through the glass roof, past the statue of Mary then leads to the altar. We journey towards Christ.

Artist of joy

He witnesses the interest in the place, which has really attracted crowds since its reopening at the end of June 2024. “The first month, we published 1,500 visit sheets, they all left, and that must mean many more visitors! » What marks him above all are people’s reactions. “They are amazed by the beauty of the place, something is happening here…”

I am an artist of joy! My vocation is to create churches of joy, transmitting the light of the divine.

She wants visitors “to be touched by beauty, light, and take a moment of interiority. The idea is that everyone leaves having found a treasure, a path of peace…”

Children too

Fleur thought of children, with a real investigation to carry out, for young and old alike! “Look on the stained glass windows, there is a treasure hunt to be carried out, I have inlaid patterns to look for in reference to elements of faith”. Can you find the cross, the whale, the shell? Fleur likes details that have meaning.

Glass Virgin

The furniture is also created especially for the place by the artist. With a carpenter, she designed unique benches, in the shape of waves, the altar, the ambo, the choir cross, made of glass with the face of Christ in the center…

Another nugget of the chapel, the statue of the Virgin, an unrivaled work! “It’s a glass Virgin! » But the beautiful lady deserves it, or hides it. “At first, we don’t see her face, you have to get closer to recognize her. I like this approach: it’s your movement that allows you to reveal who she is.” Here, no artificial light, stained glass windows facing south let their light shine on the Marian dress. When we approach, we notice the facial features of the statue, and its sweet smile.

What is an organ of light?

The sculptor surrounded the Virgin with a special display, the fruit of her imagination, what she calls an “organ of light”. Here, no music, but light, as always with the artist. “Usually, the furniture that accommodates candles and tapers is not necessarily very aesthetic. I wanted something strong, because there we place our prayers, our joys, our sorrows, our thanks, what we have most precious…”.

And as always, the young mother thought of the children, with a display located at their height.

She took the idea of ​​a total sensory immersive experience to the point of… creating a perfume. Incense and lilies, symbol of Mary, make it up, captured in candles, regularly out of stock! All the senses are engaged in this unique chapel.

Fleur Nabert will continue to beautify churches. She has just inaugurated a stained glass window at Chartres Cathedral. She dreams of “making stained glass windows in workplaces, offices, to give this elevation to workers”. And to continue to “do good through art”…

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