Virginie Gervaise trained in textile design at the Duperré school in Paris, then went on to complete a Master’s degree in scenography at Central St.Martin’s College of Art & Design in London and the D.A.M.U. in Prague, under the guidance of Pamela Howard and Josef Svoboda.

Virginie Gervaise began her career working with Nicky Rieti, producing numerous drawings and paintings for his stage designs.

She has worked with the painter Selim Saiah from Act I on painted opera canvases, notably for The Magic Flute, directed by Robert Wilson at the Opéra Bastille, The Knight of the Rose, set design by Mathias Fischer-Dieskau at the Théâtre du Châtelet, La Bayadère, set design by Enzo Frigerio at the Paris Opéra and Peter Grimes, set design by Reinhart Zimmermann at Scottish Opera in Glasgow.

Across the Channel, she co-founded the Zaoum Theatre Company with author and director Sulayman Al-Bassam, where she designed the sets for shows at the Rencontres Internationales, Scenofest in London and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

She designs spaces for events, in particular for choreographers, photographers, musicians and authors such as Karine Saporta, David LaChapelle, Safy Boutella, Airy Routier, Nadia Vonderheyden, Jean-Fançois Sivadier, Sulayman Al-Bassam and Hakim Romatif.

She designs the silhouettes of costumes for shows by : Lambert Wilson, Sylvain Maurice, Célia Houdart, Omar Porras, Johanne Saunier, Pascal Kirsch, Jacques Vincey, Natalie Dessay and, more assiduously, she contributes to the theatre and opera creations of Jean-François Sivadier, to name but a few : La Folle Journée, La vie de Galilée, Le nozze di Figaro, La Dame de chez Maxim, Carmen, L’incoronazione di Poppea, Le Misanthrope, Don Giovanni, Un Ennemi du Peuple, Othello.

Virginie Gervaise takes a pictorial approach to her professional work, and has always practiced painting. For several years now, Virginie Gervaise has been taking part in teaching groups at art colleges such as Prép’art and Waide Somme, with the aim of understanding and developing dramaturgical concepts of spatiality and clothing.