A PLACE TO LIVE AND WORK

Provence, France

Born in the DRC

Whatever the medium, I try to reach what lies behind the material. The search for "the beyond." Further, more directly, and higher, towards the inaccessible. This is the starting point if I don't let myself be carried away by mere creative pleasure.

To get closer to it, I try to go behind the screen, to see what is hidden, even if it means creating it in order to then disrupt it.

I either work on translucent paper, sometimes on both sides, a way of going further and penetrating the support, without " repentance" (without possible correction), or I work on canvas, imprisoning the mark, the ink, and the pencil with another medium: priming and paint. In my sculptures, scratches and holes were frequent.

This year, I chose this new medium for its scale, the larger format I can work with, preferably unframed, the edges of the canvas becoming part of the work. The process is different. It involves stretching a canvas over a large frame and working step by step to apply the material, drawing and painting on it, covering the visible drawing with paint, drawing again, and then covering the drawing again.

This is a process of more numerous superimpositions, repetitions, a profound dialogue of signs, and revealing claws that expose deeper layers. It is a creative process of approaching the visible, the invisible, the intuited, the subtle. A back-and-forth of all these elements ultimately leading to a journey toward spirituality.

Alongside or in conjunction with my graphic work, I address questions about today's "values" such as the status of animals, the relationship to death, and to freedom.

In particular, I use digital photos as intentional supports, treated simply as a game, in a quirky or ambiguous way. The reading can be straightforward, the message clear. Often, these are staged scenes with figurines, plush toys, or other objects symbolizing happiness, flavor, childhood, play, and celebration, juxtaposed with a dramatic idea.