Frédéric Imbert’s collaboration with Æquo Gallery is rooted in the art of metal casting, exploring and fusing two ancestral Indian techniques: lost-wax casting, known as Dhokra in the Chhattisgarh region, and sand casting in Bombay. Two opposing processes—one methodical and age-old, the other raw and immediate—embody distinct approaches to working with metal in India. Through this journey, a particular black wax captured Frédéric’s attention, becoming the cornerstone of his collection for Æquo.

Practiced for over 4,000 years, lost-wax casting traces its origins to the Indus Valley civilization. This craft, passed down through the Dhokra Damar lineage, relies exclusively on natural materials: beeswax, charcoal, clay, and rice straw. In November 2023, Frédéric Imbert spent two weeks in Chhattisgarh, hosted by master craftsman Suresh Waghmare and his team, immersing himself in every step of their technique. It was here that he encountered the striking black wax traditionally used in the Dhokra process—an exceptionally pliable yet precise material that records every gesture before being consumed by fire. This discovery marked the inception of his collection, sculpting directly in the region’s black wax.

A series of pieces took shape in this rural part of India, frozen in deep black, awaiting their transformation into metal. A monumental coffee table was cast on-site using the traditional lost- wax casting technique, marking the project’s starting point. To complete the collection, Frédéric and Æquo fused this process with sand casting in Bombay—a different approach yielding the same materiality. This technique, more direct and immediate than lost-wax casting, captures the raw texture of the sand, imprinting every imperfection and accident of the process into the metal. The pieces were cast in separate sections, cut, and welded together. True to his approach—one that reveals rather than conceals the making process—Frédéric Imbert chose to preserve the welding marks, embedding them as a signature within each creation.

From this dual immersion emerged a series of eight sculptural pieces—pedestals, a coffee table, an armchair, a floor light, and a console—where the tension between artisanal mastery and the raw force of process is laid bare. Frédéric Imbert orchestrates a unique reading of furniture, where every surface bears the memory of fire and gesture, anchoring these ancient techniques within a contemporary and radical vision of metal.

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