Aurelia Vance
“In an era seduced by weightless screens, I choose the stubborn density of stone, the sacred shimmer of beaten gold, and the slow drying of linseed oil under winter sunlight.”
Housed in a preserved 19th-century timber-framed atelier overlooking Paris rooftops. Visitors and collectors received strictly by advance appointment.
Between Byzantine Alchemy & Brutalist Space
Born in Lyon to a family of restorers and bookbinders, Aurelia Vance grew up surrounded by aged vellum, rabbit-skin glue, and the scent of dammar varnish. After classical training at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, she rejected the prevailing trends of conceptual dematerialization to pioneer a profound physical engagement with matter.
Her signature practice involves gathering raw geological minerals from historic quarries across Europe and Central Asia: lapis lazuli from Badakhshan, green malachite, cinnabar, and volcanic ash from Mount Etna. Using heavy glass mullers on granite slabs, she grinds her own pigments by hand, preserving crystalline refractive facets that industrial factory mills destroy.
Over the past decade, Vance’s works have expanded into monumental scale: multi-paneled canvases exceeding three meters in width, freestanding blackened bronze cast partitions, and ethereal large-format botanical cyanotypes exposed under high-altitude alpine solar rays.
Her works are held in permanent collections across the world, including the Fondation Beyeler in Basel, the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, and prestigious private estates across Zurich, London, and New York.
Milestones & Residencies
Palais de Tokyo Retrospective & Thames & Hudson Monograph
Mid-career survey exhibition spanning ten years of work across painting, bronze sculpture, and cyanotypes. Release of the definitive 368-page hardbound monograph "Chronicles of Lumen".
Venice Biennale Collateral Pavilion & Special Mention
Selected to present site-specific tidal water and gold-leaf architectural installations at Campo San Maurizio during the 60th International Art Exhibition.
Villa Kujoyama Laureate Residency
12-month research residency investigating Japanese mineral nihonga pigments, charcoal casting, and handmade kozo paper architectures.
The Tectonic Series & Etna Fieldwork
Formulated ground-breaking cold-wax techniques incorporating harvested volcanic basalt ash and raw cinnabar pigments on monumental Belgian linen.
Atelier Montmartre Establishment & École des Beaux-Arts
Graduated with Highest Honors (Félicitations du Jury) from École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris under Christian Boltanski.
Permanent Museum & Public Collections
Works by Aurelia Vance are conserved in leading institutional archives and public foundations globally.