By Jay Whipple
Trend Magazine Online™
The Masters!
Trend Magazine Online™
The Masters!
This interview materialized purely through happenstance and my innate
quality of having a nose for interesting information. As was the case when
I recently picked up a copy of a local slick full-color magazine and
discovered a story idea while thumbing through its pages. Page 21
featured a larger-than-life Egyptian-like carved stone with the
caption ZimSculpt underneath. My interest really peaked after I read
that two of the Zimbabwean artists were currently in town and would
be showing off their skills at the Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens
(DSBG) in Belmont, NC, and about a 40-minute drive
from Charlotte, NC. The first chance that I got I fired off
an email to the key media personnel at DSBG and quickly received a
response from Mr. Jim Hoffman – their director of marketing.
He accepted my request and arranged for me to meet one of the curators and
artists that Friday afternoon on July 25, 2014.
Although I have driven out to this site before I had never actually entered
the property in my nearly three decades of living in the area. It is in a
remote serene location that has ties with the once thriving textile
industry derived from cotton. In fact, nearby Gastonia once boasted
the largest indoor textile manufacturing plant in the United States.
My interview with Mr. Joseph Croisette began promptly after my
arrival at about 3:40 PM. He is the French husband of the
British founder of ZimScuplt Vivienne (Pronounced like
Vivian) who established the company in 2000 after being wowed by the
art at a London exhibition. The captivating art motivated her to
travel down to Zimbabwe where she spent two intriguing weeks in awe
of the unique form of art and the stone artist. In fact, the namesake of
their country means Great Stone House. Prior to that Vivienne
had promoted national and international artists in the UK but had
never experienced such raw talent as with these African
artists.
She met Joseph in Zimbabwe in 2007 -- he was there
admiring the African art as well. They married and thus joined
creative and entrepreneurial forces to introduce ZimSculpt to a
worldwide audience. They now represent over 200 sculptors and boast
the largest Zimbabwean collection and extensive artist biography
database online. Their company is based in Harare and together they
hand pick each work of art that is on display and I learned from my
interview that Joseph (Along with the artists) plan and physically
place each of the more than 100 works of art and African
plants; using a forklift for the heavier items – some weighing up to
a ton (2,000 pounds). I also got a chance to take a personal tour with
Mr. Hoffman as my guide and will share what I learned below. Mrs.
Croisette could not make this trip because she was expecting the
couple’s third child in a few weeks. She did, however, call to check
in while I was there for this interview.
