Lavish Scenes Glorify the Female Figure in Olivia De Bona’s Straw Marquetry

A straw marquetry work of a woman surrounded by plants wearing a large hat

“L’heure Rouge.” All images © Olivia De Bona, shared with permission

Through glimpses of elegant interiors lush with plants, Paris-based artist Olivia De Bona celebrates the beauty and contours of the female body. Her straw marquetry—the process of applying thin layers of material (usually veneer) to a surface—adds natural texture, variegation, and historical relevance to such intimate and decadent scenes. Referencing Romanticism and the Vietnamese wood carving traditions of her ancestors, the works require “patience, and an incalculable number of hours, that allows me to dive out of time and brings me back to something very concrete, real, far from the famous, facing myself and in tribute to all the women artisans to the forgotten work,” the artist says.

On view now at BEERS London, De Bona’s latest body of work reckons with voyeurism, implicating the viewer from the outset. Sensuous and heavily stylized, the pieces largely depict nude women unaware and in a moment of passing, shown through elements like “a hidden passage, a doorway, a transition from one state to another where we can peek at what is hidden and what is revealed,” the artist shares. The exhibition is titled Le Panache, a term that today indicates flamboyant confidence and that historically denotes an elaborate headdress, the latter of which is recalled in the fiery red feathers of “La Poule.”

De Bona is drawn to this sense of “reckless courage” that “transform(s) all women into goddesses. I put my loving and tender look for all her bodies, all her forms,” she says. Many of these recent works were inspired by the artist’s friend, a professional dancer who joined her in the studio to perform. “This has very little to do with voyeurism and is really about tenderness,” De Bona shares. “A connection between persons, between women, allowing space for discussion and creativity. There was a very raw connection between her movements in my space and my craftsmanship in relation to my work.” Each interior is lavish and ripe with plants, stone tiles, animals, and soft places to rest. Obscured by a half-opened door or fern front, these domestic spaces are fertile, offering room for contemplation, solitude, and imagination.

Several works shown here are included in Le Panache, which is on view through June 10. For more of De Bona’s marquetry, murals, and other projects, visit Instagram, and find prints in her shop.

A straw marquetry work of a nude woman surrounded by plants with a tiger nearby

“Sieste crapulence 5pm” (2022), straw marquetry, acrylic, and pigmented clay on wood, 61 x 50 centimeters

A straw marquetry work of a nude woman, her head covered by plants

“Le Bouquet” (2023), acrylic, pigmented clay, and straw marquetry on wood, 60 x 42 centimeters

A straw marquetry work of a woman with a large feathered headdress surrounded by roosters

“La Poule” (2023), acrylic and straw marquetry on wood, 73 x 60 centimeters

Detail of “Le Bouquet” (2023), acrylic, pigmented clay, and straw marquetry on wood, 60 x 42 centimeters

Two straw marquetry works of a nude woman surrounded by plants

Left: “Un Long Dimanche” (2022), acrylic and straw marquetry on wood, 68 x 56 centimeters. Right: “La Toilette” (2021), 50 x 100 centimeters

Detail of a straw mat with a woman's foot in the top right

Detail of “Un Long Dimanche” (2022), acrylic and straw marquetry on wood, 68 x 56 centimeters

A straw marquetry work of a woman surrounded by plants and bears

A straw marquetry work of a nude woman surrounded by plants at the edge of a bathtub

“Le Boudoir”

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