Martin Berteloodt

Martin Berteloodt (b. June 1st 1999) is a French-born multidisciplinary artist based in Tokyo, whose work intricately explores the psychological dimensions of human experience through a diverse range of media, including sculpture, photography, film, leather craft, and mixed-media installation. His artistic practice is rooted in a deep engagement with themes of sexuality, trauma, and the dynamic tension between beauty and decay. By constructing surreal environments that blur the boundary between the conscious and the unconscious, Berteloodt gives form to the complex and often unsettling aspects of the human psyche. His work draws heavily on Freudian theory and the evocative power of visceral materiality, transforming psychological narratives into immersive, tangible experiences.

Born and educated in France, Berteloodt’s artistic journey led him to Tokyo, where he synthesizes European surrealism with the aesthetics of the Japanese avant-garde. His cross-cultural perspective is evident in his distinctive approach to materials and techniques. Berteloodt’s creative process typically begins with psychoanalytic research, which informs the conceptual foundation of his work. This intellectual groundwork is then translated into physical form through an array of materials, ranging from resin and leather to film and mixed media. These diverse elements are manipulated to create works that are both organic and artificial, exploring the liminal space between reality and dream, the living and the inert.

In his series Sexual Microbes: A Contaminated Love Story (2022), Berteloodt delved into the visceral nature of desire, using biomorphic shapes and textured surfaces to reflect on themes of lust, psychic fragmentation, and the collision of organic and synthetic forms. Employing techniques such as photogrammetry and leather craft, he created a series of tactile, ambiguous sculptures that seemed to pulse with life, inviting viewers to confront their own perceptions of attraction and repulsion. This series was his first international artwork, with features in Digital Art Zurich (2022) and Gata Magazine (2022), marking his childlike rebirth as an artist who explores the intersections of the sensual and the grotesque.

Berteloodt's solo exhibition Morphosis (2023) at CONTRAST Gallery in Tokyo further expanded on his interest in transformation, presenting intricate sculptures that dramatized the processes of decay, rebirth, and bodily metamorphosis. These works captured the fragile, ever-changing nature of existence, using corroded metal, translucent resin, and surfaces to evoke a sense of physical and psychological disintegration.

The tension between beauty and abjection is a recurring motif throughout Berteloodt's body of work. His sculptures frequently juxtapose polished, clean finishes with raw, decayed, or grotesque surfaces, forcing viewers to reconcile their aesthetic appreciation with a sense of unease.

Beyond his gallery practice, Berteloodt has applied his sculptural expertise to the world of performance and visual design, creating sculptural props and visual environments for musicians. This interdisciplinary approach allows him to extend his psychological and aesthetic inquiries into dynamic, performative contexts, further blurring the line between art and experience.

Martin Berteloodt’s practice is characterized by a relentless probing of the undercurrents of desire, anxiety, and the uncanny. Through his multifaceted approach—encompassing sculpture, photography, film, leather craft, and mixed media—he constructs immersive environments that transform psychological concepts into palpable realities. His work confronts viewers with a provocative interplay of sensuality and decay, beauty and abjection, thought and matter. In this way, Berteloodt invites audiences to explore the shadowy depths of the human psyche, leaving them with images and sensations that linger long after they have left the gallery space.