All images © Monsieur Cailloux, shared with permission
The story goes that the lifeforms discovered by developed a third leg in order to gallop 200 miles per minute across the imaginary planet known as MRCX. Sensitive and spirited, the specimens are part of the Paris-based artist’s ever-expanding “tribe of pebbles,” a fictional population of blobby ceramic characters apparently capable of breaking the sound barrier.
Monsieur Cailloux began sculpting the tiny creatures in 2020 when he dreamed up a space exploration and an entire universe inhabited by the tribe—find maps of the planet and an animation detailing their evolution on — in order to explore new avenues in his ceramics practice. Now numbering in the hundreds, the rock-like figures are diverse in color, glaze, and body shape, although most feature small eyes and of course, a signature third limb for aforementioned galloping.
In creating the MRCX world, the artist shares that he strives for imperfections and allows each character to evolve naturally. He says:
I try to make visible the humanity that is hidden in us by pressing on the irregularities and flaws of a handmade work. Mistakes are then, for me, a source of happiness. For example, when (a piece) does not react as I had planned, I try to change my view of the sculpture in front of me to add or subtract an element that will make it beautiful. I end up with a result that is completely different from my initial idea, and it is in these moments that I experience my greatest creative joys.
If you’re in Paris, you can meet Monsieur Cailloux’s specimens next month in a show that opens on October 6 at .
