Born in 1981, France
Lise Gonthier lives and works in Beaucaire, in the Gard department.
After completing a degree in applied arts with a concentration in ceramics, she went on to study painting at the École des Beaux-Arts in Besançon, where she earned her DNAP degree. Drawn to molten glass and its transparency, she specialized at CERFAV (European Center for Research and Training in Glass Arts), earning her CAP in hand-blown glass in 2003, followed by the title of European Glassmaker in 2004. She rounded out her training through numerous studio experiences, notably in Baccarat, in Bréhat with Xavier de Mirebeck and Vincent Breed, in residence at the Carmaux Glass Museum, and in the Czech Republic at Ajeto. She opened her studio in Beaucaire in 2009.
Her work explores glass as a pictorial medium, straddling the boundary between painting and sculpture. Her “light paintings” are constructed like interior landscapes: inclusions, bubbles, layers, and masses of color create visual spaces where light flows and reveals depths. Each work is the result of a three-step process: the handcrafted production of sulfides—glass spheres, of which each painting contains between 30 and 80—their cold working (sawing and polishing), and finally their assembly through high-temperature fusion. The result is of a rare sensuality: abstract, ethereal volumes, traversed by light.
Her approach is rooted in a reflection on perception, time, and appearance. As she herself writes: “I seek to capture fleeting states—clouds, mists, atmospheric formations—and to give form to that which, by its very nature, eludes us. ” An ambition perfectly summed up by this quote from Robert Motherwell, which she has made her own: “The challenge is to organize emotional states as faithfully as possible and with the utmost discernment.”
Lise Gonthier collaborates with leading Italian design houses, Minotti and Giorgetti, and develops projects with architects and interior designers. Her work is exhibited in numerous galleries in France and internationally, across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Her pieces are included in museum collections in France, Belgium, Germany, and China.
2011: Coup de Cœur Award, Ateliers d’Art de France
2013: First Prize (Regional), Ateliers d’Art de France Competition
2014: Production of the FIFMA Awards, Ateliers d’Art de France
Carmaux Glass Museum (France)
Claret Glass Hall (France)
Nancy Museum of Fine Arts (France)
Charleroi Glass Museum (Belgium)
Lette Glass Museum (Germany)
Shanghai Glass Museum, Lili Museum (China)
Beaux-Arts Magazine, December 2024
Neues Glas, New Glass, Art & Architecture, No. 2 / 2024
Fred Magazine, Winter 2022
Artension, 2020
Journal of Ceramics and Glass, 2020
Art in the Air, Special Issue: Arts and Crafts, 2014
France 3, Mon Côté Sud, 2025
France 5, La Maison France 5, 2020
