From 20 November to 31 December 2026, Return From Travel Gallery, L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, welcomes 21 unique creations of Gilles Pothier. Made specifically for this exhibition from regional plants and natural materials, these pieces bring the magic of Christmas into dialogue with a timeless sculptural presence. Opening on Friday 27 November 2026.
The plant becomes a sculpture
A leaf, an acorn, bark, a driftwood, a flower... : it all starts with looking at a piece of nature. In the hands of Gilles Pothier, these elements become architectures, silhouettes and landscapes. Their assembly reveals rhythms, balances and textures that we take pleasure in discovering and grasping their full extent.
With A Christmas by Gilles Pothier, The Retour De Voyage Gallery invites you to explore the border between floral art and sculpture.
The magic of Christmas emerges in the slender shapes, the richness of materials and the evocation of enchanted forests. It also leaves room for a reinvented nature, whose poetry crosses the seasons, like plant sculptures.
Gilles Pothier, a master of floral art
Originally from Lyon, where he started his career, Gilles Pothier joins Paris in 1990 to take over the management of the Moreux Fleuriste house. His career is marked by major distinctions : winner of the Coupe de France in 1986, Best Worker in France in 1994, he became World Champion of Florists in Amsterdam in 1997. He was named Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2002.
This recognition is accompanied by a commitment to transmission. Author of works devoted to floral art, trainer and ambassador of French know-how internationally, Gilles Pothier cultivates a practice where technical requirements serve invention.
Back From Travel, this mastery can be seen in the construction of the volumes as much as in the attention paid to the smallest detail. Plant material becomes a true aesthetic language.
One of the creations : The Nativity Book
On an imposing wooden base (driftwood and wisteria vine), a large open book displays a landscape in relief. Its pages become the landscape of a nativity where the characters rub shoulders with slender bushes, foliage and plant fragments.
The cover combines banana leaves, garden magnolia and dried lotus. From the pages emerges a landscape of dried eleagnus leaves, of blanched Brazilian Monéta and fig tree from the garden, punctuated with pine cones and limes. Blanched tree mushrooms, gilded cotton shells and gilded figurines make up a nativity scene where the Christmas story takes root in nature.
Natural textures make up the paths and reliefs of this miniature garden, while gold lights up the scene.
Gilles Pothier adds volume to the story : the story emerges from the pages, between storybook and plant sculpture.
Unique pieces, designed to last
Rosa 21 creations were made specifically for this exhibition. Each one is a unique and lasting piece. Working with dried plants, wood and assemblies allow them to be a lasting part of an interior.
Their sculptural dimension thus offers several ways of welcoming them : punctuate a room, live in a hall, accompany an architecture or become the starting point of a collection. They carry the magic of the holidays while retaining, throughout the year, their plastic force and their evocative power. Christmas brings them together ; their presence extends well beyond.