Sylva Hanuise, Sculpteur, Grand-Halleux, Belgique

I was born on the 6th of April 1961 in Soignies (Belgium). Greek-Latin humanities. Three years of drawing courses following the Martenot method (freeing gesture). Licence in Romanic philology in Louvain-la-Neuve.

When I was 15, during the school holidays, in order to earn pocket money, I used to work in my grandfather’s factory, the Hanuise granite factory in Soignies. I enjoyed working on hard granite for the first time. Experienced workers, who had been sculpting stones all their life, used to share their knowledge with me. My university licence was not meant to teach one day, but was a response to a thirst of knowledge, to openness to literature and culture. After my studies, I collaborated with the factory for three years.

In 1986 I opened a shop in the centre of Mons. It focused on manual labour of hard granite and the creation of unique pieces (tables, lamps, ...). In 1987, I created the society Sylva Granit Design in Mons, centred on granite works for interior home designing. Everything was ok except for the management which kept me from creating as I wished. In 1998, I started reducing the staff and the production in order to come back to manual labour. I realise that what I do is sculpture.

In 2001 I decided to sell my enterprise in order to focus my life on sculpture only and to manage my time more freely. I live now in Grand-Halleux, in an old stone farm. With my wife, we have fixed up a large room and spaces in order to welcome groups of personal development, artists and displays.

Since 2004 works have been displayed in different collections of Belgium, the grand duchy of Luxembourg and the Netherlands. In 2005, Arlon got two sculptures.