Les Miresses 4

Les Miresses 4 – Anne Guerrin’s Tribute to the Quiet Power of Ancient Seers

With Les Miresses 4, Anne Guerrin continues her sculptural homage to the miresses—the healers, seers, and wise women of earlier centuries, guardians of intuitive knowledge passed down through generations. In this stoneware piece, the artist captures the inner strength of these women who perceived the world beyond its visible layers, attuned to subtle signs and the spiritual breath of life.

The figure stands out through her open, direct, yet deeply serene gaze. Her wide eyes, slightly lifted, do not confront the viewer; instead, they appear to look through the visible, as if seeking to read beneath the surface of things. This gaze, filled with quiet dignity, recalls that miresses did not “see” in the ordinary sense—they perceived with an ancient attentiveness, a form of inner sight.

The treatment of stoneware is once again remarkably refined. Its grey, white, and earthy variations give the sculpture a mineral, nearly geological presence. The surface bears striations, marks, and vertical drips reminiscent of dried rain—signs of time passing, shaping, eroding. Anne Guerrin allows the material to speak its own history, while infusing it with the spiritual gravitas of her characters.

The hairstyle, composed of two symmetrical, elevated volumes, gives the sculpture a distinctly totemic quality. It evokes ancestral figures—perhaps ritual, perhaps symbolic—without tying itself to any specific culture. This universality is one of the great strengths of the Miresses: they belong simultaneously to all memories.

Around the neck, several sculpted stoneware rings stack like protective collars. They appear both as ceremonial adornments and markers of initiation, identifying the figure as a guardian of invisible knowledge. The face blends softness and resolve: the slightly pressed lips, the high cheekbones, and the calm forehead give the impression of a grounded, watchful presence.

The lower part of the bust, elongated and subtly flared, displays the characteristic stratified markings found in Anne Guerrin’s work. One sees traces, furrows, and patterns suggesting wet landscapes, traversed terrains, or cultivated fields. The sculpture becomes a vertical territory—a body carved by the elements.

Les Miresses 4 stands as a deeply contemplative piece, a work in which matter and spirit meet. The sculpture integrates beautifully into a contemporary, minimalist, or mineral interior, where it acts as a quiet guardian presence. It is ideal for collectors seeking a unique artwork infused with symbolism, memory, and inner strength.

With this fourth variation, Anne Guerrin confirms her ability to transform earth into figure, material into spirituality, and ancestral memory into a vibrantly contemporary work of art.