Decorative penguin sculpture made of black and red feathers with a gold straw in its beak against a black background.

Artistic statement

Unseen Threads: The Transmission of Knowledge

A “Spider’s Thread”

My work revolves around the concept of legacy with a central question: how do knowledge, wisdom, and teachings survive and traverse the ages? I seek to reveal the unseen threads that connect existence, tracing how human understanding, dreams, and practices persist through time. I found my answer by turning to the tales that have crossed centuries and still inspire today.

I explore these questions through mythologies—ancient and fictional—folklore, and relics of human expression, capturing the cycles and patterns of civilizations. By revisiting these narratives, my sculptures aim to illuminate universal truths while tracing the evolution of ideas, memory, and culture.

Close-up of a surface covered with overlapping blue and white sequins, creating a textured, shiny pattern.

A Legacy

Materially, I reinterpret the craft of straw marquetry, combining rye straw, wood, and metal to create forms that engage with light and texture, producing movement within stillness. Each piece invites the viewer to inhabit its narrative, embodying forgotten or invisible knowledge that has shaped human understanding across generations.

This practice is personal as well as cultural. Stories and mythologies once gave me guidance when no one else could. Through my work, I seek to give back to that legacy—honoring the transmissions that helped me grow, while seeking to create new vessels for meaning.

A workshop with a metal work surface in the foreground, and behind it various woodworking tools, a green lamp, a shelf with small parts, and a wood door leading to a storage area with a bed and clothing.

A shell for a soul

Through this approach, I aim to preserve knowledge, celebrate the legacy of transmission, and spark reflection on our evolving relationship with the world, the environment, our histories, and one another. My practice continues a lineage of traditional craft while opening onto timeless questions that shape our collective imagination: how stories endure, how wisdom is carried forward, and how each of us contributes to a legacy greater than ourselves.

Within these explorations, I also create imagined worlds and characters—such as those in Amoebas Realm—where ordinary lives encounter extraordinary forces, continuing the dialogue between past, present, and future.

More about Amoebas Realm Concept

Previous Works

Custom Piece

A man working on an art project at a table in a room with ornate gold-framed mirror and green walls.

A modern side table with a rough black stone base, a round brass stem, and a dark wooden top against a black background.

“For me, every object is more than a physical form; it is a vessel for a story, a shell for a soul, a message that transcends its material presence. My goal is to create work that sparks curiosity and invites viewers to engage with its layers of meaning. In a world increasingly dominated by speed and convenience, I see craftsmanship and Art in general as an act of resistance—a celebration of slowness, care, and permanence.

By preserving and reinterpreting traditional techniques, I aim to honor the artisans who came before me while pushing the boundaries of what is possible in contemporary craft. Each piece I create is a bridge: between past and present, tradition and innovation, material and meaning. Through my work, I also hope to inspire others to reconnect with the richness of handmade objects and the stories they carry.”

*Personal note from the artist

Biography

Colorful three-dimensional sculpture resembling a bird made of layered, shiny, disc-shaped materials in yellow, orange, and blue.

Born in the windswept landscapes of Brittany, France, Jonathän Jouan grew up surrounded by Celtic myths and legends; tales that would later become the cornerstone of his artistic vision. From an early age, he was captivated by the symbolic and ornamental dimensions of art, leading him to study art history in France. While the theoretical study deepened his appreciation for symbolism, he soon felt the need to create, to bring narratives into tangible form.

Seeking mastery of craft, Jonathän moved to Montreal, Canada, to study traditional art cabinetry. There, he discovered and taught himself the delicate art of straw marquetry; a technique that would become his signature. His early works blended influences from Shinto mythology and the manga culture of his youth, materializing as sculptural furniture pieces designed to embody myth and storytelling within contemporary interiors.

In 2021, Jonathän relocated to Denmark, where he continued to refine his technique and expand his artistic exploration. He focused on revitalizing rye straw marquetry, experimenting with ways to infuse static materials with a sense of movement and life. This period of research culminated in Amoebas Realm, his latest collection: a poetic fusion of craft and narrative that illuminates cycles of civilizational evolution through the intimate stories of ordinary characters inhabiting extraordinary worlds.

Through his work, Jonathän Jouan intent to bridges tradition and innovation, creating pieces that are simultaneously timeless, narrative-rich, and meticulously crafted—a dialogue between narratives, material, and contemporary life.