"The painter must not only paint what he sees in front of him, but also what he sees in himself."
Caspar David Friedrich
The first "mise au carreau" I created was suggested to me during a painting course at art school (middle school years). The idea was to detach oneself from the global representation of an image and not think about the final result. What was less academic was that, to be sure of treating each square individually, I only had one square of the image at a time at my disposal to draw.
As chance would have it, the image was of a head in profile, with certain internal elements visible. At the time, I paid more attention to the profile of this face than to the anatomical details, because I wanted to stick to reality and draw a face, a body perfectly... (cf. Untitled, 1995).
My real encounter with anatomical representations took place in art college. I discovered the Renaissance artists' mastery of the human body. Such great names!
During my academic drawing classes, I often wanted to get out of the box, to try out new techniques; I really wanted to turn away from this academicism that I found as fascinating as it was burdensome. At the time, I didn't dare break away...
After college, I gave up all artistic practice to concentrate on my professional career. It's only been a few years since I picked up my brushes again, and I've no intention of letting them go! I'm finally allowing myself to divert and reappropriate what fascinates and questions me.
From then on, everything starts with a representation of something that arouses my curiosity or interest: the subject, the lines, the light and shade, the colors... it doesn't matter, it just has to touch me, create an emotion in me...
Technique: I quickly reproduce the main lines in dry pastel on the format I've chosen. Then I start painting. There's often a pause, as I may change my mind about a line or an element. I like them to be visible, as they reveal certain constructions in my drawing and show the spontaneity of certain strokes.
When the paint is dry, I like to add details with dry pastels and, more recently, colored pencils. I also sometimes accentuate certain strokes.
Format: a contradiction? I like very large formats, which allow me to immerse myself in the canvas, and I like division because it allows me to concentrate on a small surface. It's also sometimes a question of simplicity, as I don't always have a space big enough to paint my large canvases. I control the space and the emotion that each "square" gives me (which aren't always so square, because I like asymmetries, incidents, fractures, hazards that will make the joining more complex).
The material : I love working with fabric because it has a weave, and I like the contact with it. It's a solid material that doesn't fear tearing, and I can use it as I please, according to my desires.
The subject : My work introduces discussion of the body, the journey, the inner journey, dreams. Knowing how it works, how it's made... I'm keen to appropriate medical imagery and reinterpret it in my own way. It's a creative, poetic form of expression that questions what's going on inside, beneath the surface, on the inside.