Laurent Martin “Lo”

Laurent Martin “Lo” has developed a singular sculptural language through more than two decades of immersive work with bamboo. His practice is the result of a journey along the bamboo traditions of Asia and the Americas, where he studied with master artisans and absorbed ancestral techniques and philosophies.

For Lo, bamboo is not inert; it is a living material endowed with memory, resistance, and energy. Each work is conceived as a search for balance in motion, where harmony arises from tension and adjustment rather than fixed form.

He constructs space around a central point of gravity, often materialised by a ceramic sphere. By placing bamboo under tension using bindings and counterweights, he creates mobiles in which movement is essential and the void becomes an active component. The sculptures respond to air, gravity, and light, revealing a fragile yet precise equilibrium.

Each piece emerges through improvisation and continuous dialogue between the bamboo and the knowledge acquired through years of practice. Some works are exposed for long periods to natural elements (heat, cold, humidity, drought, and wind) allowing the material to refine its curves, acquire patina, and retain the memory of time.

Through the combined use of bamboo and ceramic, his sculptures embody the four elements: earth, fire, water, and air. Bamboo, through its nobility and regenerative energy, becomes for Laurent Martin “Lo” the reflection of an imagined humanity: resilient yet flexible, and in search of harmony with its environment.