Profile

In Villaines-les-Rochers, a mecca of French basketry, Catherine Romand weaves decades of expertise and creative freedom in her expert hands. A 1981 graduate of the National School of Wickerwork and Basketry, she is the first woman to graduate from the rattan furniture industry. For over 40 years, she has been crafting wicker with exceptional rigor, blending artisanal tradition and artistic research.
Alongside her husband, Christophe Romand, a Meilleur Ouvrier de France (Best Craftsman of France) in basketry since 1994, she cultivates her own willow bed, championing a comprehensive approach, from field to form. Together, in their workshop, they reinterpret ancient techniques to create a contemporary language, while ensuring the ecological and aesthetic quality of their raw material.

As much an artist as a craftswoman, Catherine Romand has always sought to expand the scope of basketry. In 2003, she received the SEMA Prize in Contemporary Art for her work at the intersection of sculpture and craftsmanship. In 2024, she was again recognized for her project, Tresser l’ombre, a monumental work conceived in collaboration with designer Clémence Althabegoïty, which earned them the Liliane Bettencourt Prize for the Intelligence of the Hand, in the Dialogues category. The installation, designed as a living shade structure, combines mastery of curves and solar calculations, and perfectly illustrates her approach: a sensitive, spatial basketwork, in resonance with the living.

Catherine Romand now shares her expertise through demanding and inspiring training courses. She shares her techniques, her precision, but also her vision, that of a rapidly evolving craft, capable of appealing to designers, artists, architects, and plant enthusiasts alike.