Inspired by my scuba dives, my project, The Coral Gardener, evokes the marine world through organic forms and a color palette reminiscent of the ocean depths. A passionate diver for over 30 years, I wanted to pay tribute to the pioneers of diving—those first frogmen who, sometimes risking their lives, explored the depths in scuba gear. From this reflection came the idea of creating a symbolic work: a ceramic diver's head, placed on a coral bust reminiscent of the statues of Greco-Roman antiquity. The ensemble suggests a submerged relic, frozen in time. Crafted in clay using the coil technique, this piece was patinated with a carefully measured mixture of glazes, then fired in a gas-fired reduction kiln. It emerges as if marked by the passage of time, as if it had rested on the ocean floor.