A graduate of the École Supérieure des Arts Modernes in Paris, Denise Benarroch began her career in design, creation and decoration within industrial and commercial companies. For more than ten years, she developed an artistic approach rooted in functional aesthetics. But in 1992, a decisive shift occurred. Her desire to materialise emotion, form and sensuality led her to explore a new path: sculpture. She then joined the studio of sculptor Myriam Franck, later completing her training at the École Boulle, an undisputed reference in the field of applied arts.
Her style quickly took shape, particularly during her collaboration with Art Tempo, an agency specialising in the creation of artistic trophies. There, Nouna drew inspiration from iconic advertising figures — the Shell Woman, the Perfume Woman, the Mouth — to create pieces of striking evocative power. Very soon, her artistic identity broke free from formalism and opened itself to primitive and African arts, to totemic shapes and to the inner lines of the human body. It was also during this period that she chose to sign her works with her middle name: Nouna, as a return to one’s essential self.
