Wait (with Carole) is a smoke-fired stoneware sculpture by contemporary French artist Cécile Raynal. This is an ironic artwork of a gesturing woman with arms held out and a punctured hand, evoking fragility and mystery. She is being looked after by a bear cub, behind her shoulder. This fierce-looking comforter personifies a protective side that draws on the title of the show in which the artwork was exhibited: ‘A l’enfant qui nous garde’. This sculpture dumbs down the theme of childhood in several ways, in particular with its wooden base, seen by the artist as a giant Kapla blocks recalling childhood.

This portrait is part of a series of sculptures designed by the artist during an eight-week art residency at a private hospital: Natecia, in Lyon. During several stays, the artist immersed herself into maternity life, crisscrossing the corridors with her sketchbook or modelling there and then in clay the portraits of the people who she came across, health professionals as well as patients. These sessions, marked with sensitive exchanges, created clay figures caught within the very particular circumstances of these encounters: the expectation of a happy event, always tinged with uncertainty for the future parents; passion and tension, constantly linked in the healthcare teams work.

Back in the studio, further sculptures were crafted. Figures of animals, new-borns, stuffed toys, all arranged on wooden blocks, bringing a dialogue to the portraits. Cécile Raynal has woven poetic, incongruous or even playful links into her sculptures, echoing the perceptions and reflections during her residency. For the sculptor, motherhood appeared as a real sounding board for fundamental questions such as the relationships between life, childhood and parenthood and the power struggles.

This sculpture is a one-off piece, sold with a certificate of authenticity. 

Dimensions of the woman : 30 cm H x 20 cm L x 45 cm D

Dimensions of the bear: 39 cm H x 27 cm L x 20 cm D

Height of the plinth : 105 cm