La Belle Amélia

About La Belle Amélia

This contemporary figurative female table top sculpture is made from papier mâché.

For decades Paul Duval has reimagined the human form in charming sculptures beautifully handcrafted from papier mâché and wire. Duval’s series of indoor sculptures capture the human ‘condition’ in simple form. Each one possesses a visibly unique personality expressed as a gesture, a pose, and a mood that defines their character. Amélia is a female figure handmade from clay-coloured papier mâché who is sitting on a flat piece of rock. She is clothed in a knee-length dress and the only dash of colour is a bright red ribbon in her ponytail. Her head is turned to one side (as if in conversation?) and one arm is placed behind her back bracing her other arm.

“This medium (papier mâché) brings out attitudes, emotions, group relations or even wounds.” Paul Duval

Paul Duval is a member of the Canadian Sculptors Society and of the Conseil de la sculpture du Québec. He studied Monumental Sculpture at Université de Rimouski, casting at Maison des métiers d’art, Québec, and soldering at Cimic, Saint-Georges, Québec. In addition to his full-time work as an artist, Duval is Technical Director, Symposium international de la sculpture, Beauce-Art, in Saint Georges De Beauce, Québec. Duval’s sculptures including commissions are in private and public collections in Canada and France.