Siberil Rey

Born in 1966 in Septème (Isère), Siberil Rey is a sculptor whose vibrant universe blends African influences, a passion for paper and an exaltation of form. From a very young age, colour asserted itself as a vital need. She recalls: “As a little girl, I would fill sheets of paper with countless coloured dots until no white remained. I adored those explosions of colour.” This chromatic sensitivity, rooted in childhood, has never left her.

Inspired by the playful, feminine curves of Niki de Saint Phalle, Siberil Rey first explored collage before discovering in Africa the art of wood sculpture. This revelation sparked a unique fusion: paper art applied to volume. Colour, paper, material, femininity… in her studio in Saint-Louis, on Marie-Galante where she now lives, the artist assembles, covers, reinvents. Each sculpture becomes a celebration of life — an enchanted pause in a world that moves too fast.

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Her work was presented in Monaco as part of a collective exhibition organised by Art Collect®, marking a new stage of recognition for the artist. Some of her pieces were later showcased in another Monegasque gallery, further extending their visibility and confirming the growing interest in her artistic universe.

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Her emblematic figures? The Awoulaba. This Baoulé word, meaning “beauty queen,” refers in Côte d’Ivoire to women with generous curves: pronounced hips, ample bust, gentle face. Their silhouettes are symbols of beauty, fertility, wealth and joy. In Siberil Rey’s work, these figures are magnified by thousands of fragments of coloured paper, meticulously applied, dressing them like a vibrant mosaic. One thinks, of course, of Niki’s Nanas, but also of Botero’s full and serene figures. Her work radiates a claimed joy, an assumed tenderness.

Siberil Rey hopes her creations bring happiness and emotion to those who encounter them. She sees art as a vehicle for inner elevation, a luminous gift in days that are sometimes grey. Her work has already travelled far beyond her island: solo exhibitions between 2015 and 2019 (Côte d’Ivoire, Milan, Florence), group exhibitions in 2022 (Lecce Biennial, London), and numerous awards. Among them, the 1st Prize for Abstract Sculpture in Barcelona, a figurative prize in Spain (2022), and an Akoun-certified rating since 2020 — a major recognition in the art market.

In 2023, the magazine International Contemporary Artists selected her among the artists of the year. But for Siberil, the most meaningful recognition remains that of the public — their tender, astonished or simply joyful expressions. For in each Awoulaba, in each sculpture dressed in paper, the artist offers an invitation to colour, to the beauty of the body and to the generosity of the soul.