Teva Victor (born 30 September 1971 in

Bora Bora Bora Bora (French language, French: ''Bora-Bora''; Tahitian language, Tahitian: ''Pora Pora'') is an island group in the Leeward Islands (Society Islands), Leeward Islands in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific. The Leeward Islands comprise the we ...

) is a French sculptor living in Punaauia, on the island of

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

French Polynesia French Polynesia ( ; ; ) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole #Governance, overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. The t ...

Early life and education

Teva grew up on a small islet called Motu Tane not far from the main island of

. He is the son of famous French explorer Paul-Emile Victor. He attended high school in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

and college in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. Introduced to art through his father's drawings, it was at the age of 18 that a family friend, working on the motu, introduced him to wood carving. He is self-taught and liked to work on living or rooted trees. But from 2001, he preferred to devote himself to volcanic stone, which he describes as "timeless and immutable".

Career

Teva began a career as a presenter and producer of television shows. In 1998 he presented the program ''Teva'', documentaries on peoples and civilizations living in harmony with nature such as the Dogons, the Waoranis and the Toradja, for

la Cinquième France 5 () is a French free-to-air public television channel, part of the France Télévisions group. Principally featuring nonfiction and educational programming, the channel's motto is ''la chaîne de la connaissance et du savoir'' (the knowl ...

. However, he returned to sculptures. His sculptures are often two-sided faces. They are both ancient Marquesan

tiki In Māori mythology, Tiki is the first man created by either Tūmatauenga or Tāne. He found the first woman, Marikoriko, in a pond; she seduced him and he became the father of Hine-kau-ataata. By extension, a tiki is a large or small woo ...

, figurative busts of

Vaiere Mara Vaieretiai Mara, better known as Vaiere Mara (1936 - 2005) was a French Polynesian sculptor. He was the first modern Polynesian sculptor, and the first Polynesian artist to sign his works. Mara was born on the island of Rurutu in the Austral Isla ...

, and sometimes have an African influence. In 2012 he began exhibiting his stone sculptures at the Maison de la culture in

Papeete Papeete (Tahitian language, Tahitian: ''Papeʻetē'', pronounced ; old name: ''Vaiʻetē''Personal communication with Michael Koch in ) is the capital city of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of the France, French Republic in the Pacific ...

. In February 2014 he joined the ''Center de Création Contemporaine Teroronui Papeete'' (CCCTP) for a collective exhibition alongside Chief Miko,

Jonathan Bougard Jonathan Bougard is a French designer and documentary film director active in French Polynesia since 2005. Biography Bougard was born in Saint-Malo. An active artist since 2005, he made himself known in Tahiti by offering a thirty-meter-long fres ...

and photographer Massimo Colombini. The CCCTP was a transdisciplinary collective. The same year Teva sold a work to

Joel Silver Joel Silver (born July 14, 1952) is an American film producer. Life and career Silver was born and raised in South Orange, New Jersey, the son of a writer and a public relations executive. His family is Jewish. He attended Columbia High School ...

and a sculpture to

Arnon Milchan Arnon Milchan (; December 6, 1944) is an Israeli billionaire businessman, film producer and former spy. He has been involved in over 130 full-length motion pictures and is the founder of production company Regency Enterprises. Regency's film cre ...

. In 2015, he sold several works to

Guy Laliberté Guy Laliberté, (born 2 September 1959) is a Canadian billionaire businessman and poker player. Along with Gilles Ste-Croix, he is the co-founder of Cirque du Soleil, which was founded in 1984. The Canadian circus company's shows have since be ...

. In September 2015 he joined twenty Polynesian artists at the

University of French Polynesia The University of French Polynesia () is a French university located in Puna'auia, French Polynesia. History Created by a decree of May 29, 1987, the university was originally called French Pacific University and was split between two sites ...

for a collective exhibition supporting contemporary creation and artists. His works were exhibited alongside those of Chief Miko and

Andreas Dettloff Andreas Dettloff (born 26 October 1963) is a German visual artist who lives and works in Tahiti. He is one of the most influential artists in French Polynesia. Biography Dettloff was born in Iserlohn in Germany and educated at the Kunstakademie D ...

. At the end of 2015 he worked ''

in situ is a Latin phrase meaning 'in place' or 'on site', derived from ' ('in') and ' ( ablative of ''situs'', ). The term typically refers to the examination or occurrence of a process within its original context, without relocation. The term is use ...

'' with free access on a massive stone sculpture in the Maison de la culture. The sculpture was installed in front of the Grand theater of the Maison de la culture. In 2017 he made an 800 kilo stone representation of

Queen Pomare IV Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

which was installed in the Queen’s gardens in Papeete. He has stated that his life philosophy is "nothing can match the beauty of nature. We are only there to bring a nod to our passage." In October 2021 he completed a head with immense eyes and a luscious mouth, a commission intended for the decor of a British mansion. It is a large work, approximately 1.50 m. Its weight is between 1.2 and 1.5 tonnes.

Works

File:Sculpture honouring Queen Pomare IV. (45218064391).jpg, Sculpture honouring Queen Pomare IV File:TEVA VICTOR SCULPTURE.jpg, Teva Victor sculpture

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Victor, Teva 1971 births Living people French Polynesian sculptors French sculptors People from Bora Bora