Interview with Ornélie
I recently had the honor of interviewing French artist, drawing animator, and self-taught sculptor Ornélie. Her work invites us into a personal universe one that blends the surreal, romantic, and gothic into hauntingly beautiful forms. Each of her feminine figures is entirely handmade from polymer clay, and finished with her own painted details.
Trained as a 2D animator at the renowned Gobelins animation school and now based in Dinan, Brittany, Ornélie channels her background in animation into sculpture, giving life and emotion to each piece. Her creations feel like relics from a fantasized past era where the elegance of Victorian and gothic aesthetics meets the imagination of her dreams.
Growing up in France, were you exposed to much art? Do you remember your first creative expression?
Yes, of course. Ever since I was little, my parents took me to museums and cultural sites, which are everywhere in France. But I was also immersed in cinema and animated films, illustration, comic books…
It started with drawing when I was very young. I spent hours copying the princesses and witches I saw in cartoons and storybooks. Cinderella, Maleficent, Snow White…
We also had lots of comic books at home, drawn by great artists whom I admired greatly. I quickly took Loisel, Frazetta, Juillard and Rosinski as my references… In fact, with just a few drawings, they were able to create a whole world, a whole atmosphere, a whole story. It was magical! My dream quickly became to be able to draw as well as them when I grew up.
When you got older and had to decide what to do with your life, how did you settle on animation school? Did you face any pushback from your family for making that decision?
As I was constantly drawing and it was really my thing (much more than school), my parents always supported me in this direction: they realised that there was no other option.
But it wasn’t easy to figure out exactly what my path in drawing would be, as there are so many different jobs in this field! I had spotted the Gobelins school, which produced exceptional artists every year : concept artists who went on to work at Pixar or Disney, highly talented animators, and other renowned illustrators and comic book artists… It seemed to me that it was the best school to become very good at drawing. After my A-levels, I tried the entrance exam, which I failed, of course. There were 25 places for 600 candidates! I realized it was impossible!
So I went to a visual communication school. I learned a lot there, it was very educational in many ways, but I didn’t draw enough, and it didn’t inspire me enough… my dreams were always the same: comics, illustration, animation, cinema… The Gobelins school was what made me dream! Telling stories by making beautiful drawings. I was convinced that I would find my path there, and I really needed to prove to myself that I was capable of it: I had to gauge my level and challenge myself. In the end, I worked like crazy, took the entrance exam four times, and finally made it!
Can you describe how it felt when you first failed the exam and had to settle on something else? And how did it feel when you finally passed after four times, what were the thoughts going through your head that fourth try and finally when you got in?
It wasn’t that bad because I knew I wasn’t up to standard. I knew I had a long way to go, that I needed to work hard and improve. However, after the fourth attempt, I couldn’t even imagine failing. That’s why I didn’t enrol in any other schools, no plan B this time, because plan B wasn’t even conceivable! I was going to be accepted, that was for sure! Here I really understood that hard work always pays off.
When did sculpting come into play? How does switching between the two mediums feel for you is your approach to each similar or very different?
Sculpture came into my life completely by chance. It all started during a holiday in Normandy, when I found a magnificent Napoleon III frame at an antique dealer’s. I really wanted to create a beautiful illustration to showcase it in this frame, but it had the unusual feature of curved glass: For it to make sense, the illustration had to be three-dimensional! So I created my first sculpture, very instinctively.
I immediately felt that my work as an animator, which requires me to visualize characters in three dimensions, was naturally leading me towards figurative sculpture.
Since then, I have been teaching myself. I love my job as an animator because it allows me to work on great films with incredible teams of artists, but I remain an executor: I apply the director’s vision.
And you know, it’s not easy to find yourself as an artist when you’re surrounded by so many super-talented people…The standard is very high: it’s both inspiring and intimidating…You inevitably compare your work to that of others.
It took me a long time to find my own means of expression. Now, I constantly use everything I’ve learnt to serve my creativity and my ideas, and it’s great!
Your sculptures tend to be very gothic. What are some of your most powerful inspirations?
I don’t think you’ll be surprised if I mention Tim Burton… I must have been about ten years old when I discovered Edward Scissorhands, and it was a revelation! I was immediately drawn into his world.
In fact, I’ve always loved dark, fantasy, and romanticism in literature, painting, and cinema.
A few names spring to mind among many others: Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Oscar Wilde, John William Waterhouse, John Singer Sargent, Edmund Leighton, Stanley Kubrick, etc.
Overall, my work is heavily influenced by my culture of cinema and animation, as well as comics and illustration…
I also love beautiful old things! Old houses (abandoned ones are even better) and castles (haunted ones)! Old objects, old fabrics and wallpaper, antiques of all kinds… but also gardens, flowers and trees. For example, I really love Urbex photos: I think I really enjoy finding myself in atmospheres that could be from another era, that are timeless.
When you began entering the art world with your sculptures showing in galleries and such how did that experience feel? Having your work appreciated by strangers must have been exhilarating.
Yes, it’s quite exciting to be able to present your work in exhibitions, but also on the internet. Because that’s where it gets the widest exposure, and I think that’s a tremendous opportunity.
What I like most is when people talk to me about the emotions my work evokes in them… I tell myself that’s why I do it…
Once, at an exhibition, a man cried in front of one of my sculptures. It was incredibly touching.
Do you notice the viewings feeling or seeing things within each work that you yourself never noticed or felt? When the works start to have a life of it’s own in that way what do you feel about these interpretation?
It’s very funny that you mention that, because I recently had another exhibition, and lots of people told me that my sculptures resemble me! Of course, I don’t think so, and now I almost feel like I’m presenting my children, which is quite funny! I often wear my hair up in a bun, so that must be it
Do you have any big plans for the future or any exciting projects you can share with us?
I would love to collaborate with fashion designers who are in similar moods to mine, or with other artists and creators. I recently did so with a Spanish tattoo artist specialized in flower designs, and it was very motivating and rewarding!
But for now, I’m focusing on the group shows I’ve been invited to for 2026, and above all, on the small solo show that the Corey Helford Gallery has offered me for end 2026, which will be a lot of work. It’s all very exciting!
All Images © Ornélie
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