The story behind
Behind every passion lies a great story. For Christel Sadde, it began the day she entered a discount store in Paris and found herself drawn to a giant mobile on base, made of birds cut-out from cans. She bought it and contacted its creator out of curiosity. At that moment, she discovered a surprising character, a 75 year old artist and his little workshop overloaded with projects. A touching friendship was born as well as a new professional vocation for Christel.

Born in 1968, Chistel is at a turning point in her career. Living in the center of Paris, she is the mother of two boys and has just quit her position as a graphic designer. She starts drawing her own mobiles “à la Calder but with different shapes”. She likes the idea of moving structures and believes that mobiles are much more than suspended objects but a complex study of balance. Light and wind animate them, they breathe air.

The name Christel chose for her new society in 2002 was obvious to her: Volabile is derived from “mobile” and “volatile” . She chooses to use aluminum for its intrinsic qualities: it is light, easily worked by shaping and coloring processes. The colors are very vivid, durable and entirely impregnated in the material. She does not waste any time producing two prototypes and then contacting Galerie Sentou in Paris. Sentou immediately orders more of these mobiles while the press shows more and more interest in these fresh creations. Volabile’s notoriety is acquired…