Nature’s Resilient Bloom: The Vibrant Art of Stéphanie Kilgast

When you look at Stéphanie Kilgast’s art, you see color, energy, and survival. For the past decade, the French artist has built a world where nature doesn’t collapse under human waste—it grows over it. Fungi, corals, and insects burst from discarded cans, broken cameras, and plastic bottles. Her sculptures don’t just sit still. They speak about resilience, balance, and the chance for renewal.

Now Kilgast is preparing to release Utopia, a book that gathers ten years of her sculptures, paintings, and sketchbook pages. She needs 150 pre-orders by October 3 to publish it, turning a decade of work into a single record of her vision.

From Miniatures to Environmental Storytelling

Kilgast didn’t start with environmental art. She first created tiny, hyperrealistic food sculptures for dollhouses and jewelry. In 2015, a conversation with a friend changed her thinking. She learned about the damage caused by meat production, shifted her lifestyle, and began a “daily veggie challenge.” Every day she sculpted one fruit or vegetable to show the diversity of edible plants and to inspire plant-based eating.

“That project showed me I wanted to create art for the sake of art,” she said. “It was also the first work I considered as true art.”

Two years later, she launched her ongoing series, Discarded Objects. This became her main practice and a foundation for the art she is now known for.

The Philosophy Behind Discarded Objects

Step inside Kilgast’s work and you enter a different future. There are no people. Only what people left behind—plastic, metal, glass. Around and through those objects, plants, animals, mushrooms, and corals grow.

“In my artwork, humanity is absent,” Kilgast explains. “Flora and fauna are inhabiting every nook and cranny, creating new habitats.”

The clash of trash and life becomes a new kind of balance. She uses color to show joy and hope but doesn’t ignore the grief behind the story. She wants you to look at consumer waste and ask: what’s worth keeping?

“The world is beautiful,” she says. “It is worth fighting for.”

Exhibitions Around the World

Born in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1985, Kilgast now lives and works in Vannes, France. But her art travels far. You’ll find it in museums and galleries across Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia.

Here are her current and upcoming exhibitions according to her website :

Her sculpture Nudibranch Party is also on view through 2025 at the Naia Museum in Rochefort-en-Terre, a venue known for surreal and fantastical art.

Through her work, Stéphanie Kilgast asks you to imagine a world after us—yet colored with life, hope, and wild growth. Her art shows you decay, then reminds you what comes after: new beginnings.

Stéphanie Kilgast : Website | Instagram | Facebook

Information Sources: Art Bundles for Good | Thisiscolossal

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE TO READ

• Discover Flora Forager: The Botanical Artist Transforming Nature into Storytelling Art
• Stone That Remembers: The Sculptor Who Carves Our Waste Into Wonder

Art Teller

Hello art lovers. My name is Deepak Mehla, and I’m from Karnal, India. I enjoy reading stories about people’s struggles and how they overcome them. These motivational stories work like a source of energy for me.

Although Arttellers is completely different from my original vision, I, too, am going through a challenging phase in life. To keep myself busy and to hold on to hope, I share stories of artists with all of you. I believe these stories will give you a new direction, just as they inspire me.

Arttellers exists because I want to share how some people turn the work they love into their livelihood, and how choosing their passion leads them to success. I started Arttellers to keep my own hope alive and to help you discover people whose journeys might inspire you too.