LILICOPTÈRE, 2012

A gilded helicopter decorated with thousands of rhinestones, has the outer surface of its cockpit lined with an extravagant and colourful coat of ostrich feathers. At the front of the cabin, a featherless mouth-like gap reveals its sumptuous interior, exhibiting intricate woodworks, gildings and embroidered upholstery featuring Marie Antoinette’s initials. Lilicoptère draws on the rich, glamorous and bold aesthetics of the royalty of the late Ancien Régime in order to suggest a metamorphosis from machine to animal; a return to the origin and to the inspiration that motivated the realization of man’s dream of flying.