[…] ORB MATERIA—CARVED ALGOS (2026) at Clara Darrason, Paris, presents the artist’s first body of work devoted to pure form. Several of the core principles animating her practice are planted in the four words composing the title of the show.
Orb embraces a dual nature: experienced physicality—the sense of sight and the eyeball—and cosmic scale, a direct evocation of celestial bodies. Movement is implied at polar extremes, from atomic motion to planetary revolution around the sun. Materia, the Latin root of matter, offers a neighboring concept to materia prima, understood as “indeterminate matter viewed as the material cause of the universe.”
[...] Carved refers to the sculptural act of cutting, historically bound to the act of writing through inscription, while Algos is the shorthand term for algorithms. The suggested algorithmic order establishes a continuum between Maetake’s research into materiality and today’s new forms of computational intelligence, which nevertheless rely on raw matter.
— Excerpt from exhibition text : Clara Darrason
studio note
The first Orb came from a studio problem. With more resin than I could use and about ten minutes before I had to leave, I combined it with shells, minerals, and sand and made a rough mass.
The next day I carved and polished it. That response became part of the studio routine. The process is highly predictable, but the result is unrepeatable.
For this series, “Algos” is that procedure: a system that did not require me to invent each work. Intention was still there, but it could move into the background.
“Carved” comes later. I do not determine where every shell, stone, or fragment sits inside the mass. When I cut into it, the internal arrangement becomes visible. Through subtraction and polishing, separate materials begin to appear as one continuous body, and the sequence of accumulation becomes harder to read.
What appears on the surface is not fully mine. The finished surface does not clearly show the sequence of my decisions. It depends entirely on materials.
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ORB MATERIA—Mayfly
2026
H 6 x 9 x 6 1/2 in
5 1/4 in ∅ (orb)
3/4 x 9 x 6 1/2 in (base)
Hand-carved proprietary compound (marine calcite, turquoise, quartz, blue sodalite, granite, sea glass, polymer, marble) on aluminum base
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ORB MATERIA—Yuzu
2026
H 2 5/8 x 3 x 3 in
2 1/4 in ∅ (orb)
3/8 x 3 x 3 in (base)
Hand-carved proprietary compound (marine calcite, polymer, sea glass, marble) on aluminum base
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ORB MATERIA—Chigiri-e
2026
H 5 1/2 x 6 x 5 in
4 3/4 in ∅ (orb)
3/4 x 6 x 5 in (base)
Hand-carved proprietary compound (marine calcite, jasper, sea glass, turquoise, agata, hydroxyapatite, soapstone, polymer, marble) on aluminum base
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ORB MATERIA—Inlet Swallowtail
2026
H 8 1/4 x 8 1/2 x 8 in
7 1/2 in ∅ (orb)
3/4 x 8 1/2 x 8 in (base)
Hand-carved proprietary compound (marine calcite, turquoise, jasper, sea glass, polymer, alabaster, soapstone, marble) on aluminum base
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ORB MATERIA—Silken
2026
H 5 x 5 x 5 in
4 1/4 in ∅ (orb)
3/4 x 5 x 5 in (base)
Hand-carved proprietary compound (marine calcite, polymer, marble) on aluminum base
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ORB MATERIA—Algae
2026
H 2 5/8 x 5 x 3 in
2 1/4 in ∅ and 2 1/4 in ∅ (orbs)
3/8 x 5 x 3 in (base)
Hand-carved proprietary compound (marine calcite, polymer, alabaster, marble) on aluminum base
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ORB MATERIA—Chlorophyll
2026
H 3 3/4 x 10 x 3 in
3 in ∅ (orb)
3/4 x 10 x 2 1/2 in (base)
Hand-carved proprietary compound (marine calcite, polymer, marble) on aluminum base
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ORB MATERIA—Blue First-Aid
2026
H 3 3/8 x 5 x 3 in
3 in ∅ (orb)
3/8 x 5 x 3 in (base)
Hand-carved proprietary compound (marine calcite, polymer, sea glass, alabaster, marble) on aluminum base
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ORB MATERIA—Binoculars
2026
H 2 5/8 x 5 1/2 x 2 1/2 in
2 1/4 in ∅ and 1 3/4 in ∅ (orbs)
3/8 x 5 1/2 x 2 1/2 in (base)
Hand-carved proprietary compound (marine calcite, sea glass, jasper, polymer, marble) on aluminum base
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ORB MATERIA—Air Current
2026
H 2 5/8 x 3 x 4 1/2 in
2 1/4 in ∅ (orb)
3/8 x 3 x 4 1/2 in (base)
Hand-carved proprietary compound (marine calcite, polymer, marble) on aluminum base
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ORB MATERIA—Kohakutou
2026
H 4 1/8 x 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 in
3 3/4 in ∅ (orb)
3/8 x 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 in (base)
Hand-carved proprietary compound (marine calcite, jasper, polymer, sea glass, marble) on aluminum base
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ORB MATERIA—Cyclone-glyph
2026
H 3 5/8 x 6 x 4 1/2 in
3 1/4 in ∅ (orb)
3/8 x 6 x 4 1/2 in (base)
Hand-carved proprietary compound (marine calcite, agate, polymer, marble) on aluminum base
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ORB MATERIA—Tangerine PCB
2026
H 2 3/8 x 11 x 2 1/2 in
2 in ∅, 1 7/8 in ∅, and 1 3/4 in ∅ (orbs)
3/8 x 11 x 2 1/2 in (base)
Hand-carved proprietary compound (marine calcite, fossilized bone, turquoise, quartz, sea glass, polymer, marble) on aluminum base
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ORB MATERIA—Bird Tracks
2026
H 3 5/8 x 4 1/2 x 4 in
3 in ∅ (orb)
3/8 x 4 1/2 x 4 in (base)
Hand-carved proprietary compound (marine calcite, polymer, marble) on aluminum base
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ORB MATERIA—Cocoon
2026
H 5 x 9 1/2 x 4 1/4 in
4 1/4 in ∅ (orb)
3/4 x 9 1/2 x 3 1/2 in (base)
Hand-carved proprietary compound (marine calcite, polymer, quartz, marble) on aluminum base
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ORB MATERIA—Blue Float
2026
H 2 5/8 x 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 in
2 1/4 in ∅ (orb)
3/8 x 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 in (base)
Hand-carved proprietary compound (marine calcite, polymer, marble) on aluminum base
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ORB MATERIA—Photosynthesis
2026
H 3 5/8 x 5 1/2 x 3 1/2 in
3 1/4 in ∅ (orb)
3/8 x 5 1/2 x 3 1/2 in (base)
Hand-carved proprietary compound (marine calcite, polymer, sea glass, alabaster, marble) on aluminum base