Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do.

I’m an artist from France based in Paris for 7 years now. Today I mainly draw pastel/pencil work. And at the same time, I have been a tattoo artist for 4 years.

How would you describe your practice?

I draw abstract and sometimes figurative elements.

My work deals with poetic space, language, contemplation, atmosphere, and imagination.

I draw a poetic universe.

I generally have a great interest in the notion of enigma in my practice, whether it concerns drawing, volume or music.

What are the overarching motifs in your work?

Automatically I always have to trace ellipses in my drawing, there is a type of tension in this shape that obsesses me.

I love the depth it brings when I use it as a background. I played a lot with superposition, interweave, hide, and suggest shapes.

I also take great pleasure in repeat patterns like writing musical notes in a score.

What influences your work?

I have drawn since I was a little girl, we used to do some drawing workshops with my brother for many years, and we always drew imaginary creatures or monsters/landscapes from video games, animation films, and cartoons that we loved. I think it had a lot of influence on what I still like today.

I am attracted to fantasy universes, typography, ambient music, nature, insects, and landscapes.

How did your interest in tattooing begin?

A friend, Mélodie, who is a tattoo artist and multidisciplinary artist too, showed me how to tattoo. She encourages me to do it as a job.

Because I used to have side jobs and struggle with that. I was not fulfilled. So I tried and it was a great surprise.

I felt like I discovered a way to continue drawing practice and live with it.

How do your tattooing and illustrative practices relate to each other? Did one catalyze the other?

They relate to each other by the fact that I draw almost every day, it’s an everyday practice and I love that. The more you practice, the more you develop your way of composing, new skills, and automatic curves, I always try to find the best balance between all the fragments I draw.

In addition to tattooing and drawing, you also make music under the name Léon Evangelion. How did your interest in music begin?

It started when I was a teen, ambient music hit me, I was fascinated by the horizontally of it. Ambient music is like landscape and is so expressive.

It’s like a poetic drawing, it’s like a description of somewhere and it’s so relaxing for me. And you can work your imagination with this type of music.

Tattooing and music-making can both be very collaborative practices. What do you enjoy most about working with others? What have you learned about yourself and your practice through collaboration?

I make music with Virgile, who is an artist, musician and producer.

What is very interesting in collaboration is sharing ideas, sometimes you don’t have to use a lot of words to explain, we share music/art that we love and we understand each other.

Describe your current studio or workspace.

In the past, I used to share a studio with other artists when I came to Paris. Today my workspace is in my home. I love to work in my everyday space, my living room is so bright during the day and it gives me the feeling of always being in the right place to draw or write.

If I’m drawing with pastels I have another room with a special desk for that, because it’s a dusty practice.

How has living and working in Paris affected your design practice?

Before I came to Paris after my studies, I used to work with more mediums, like ceramic, wood, installation, volume, music, and video.

In Paris, it was difficult for me to continue these practices, because of space issues. And to be transparent also finance, so I decided to develop what I could within my means.

So this is why today my principal practice is drawing, and on the side music sometimes.

Who are some of your favorite artists?

Saul Steinberg is a Romanian artist, I love his drawings for his way of thinking it; minimal, complex, funny and elegant lines.

All the universe of Asma, an artist group composed of Hanya and Matias, which I love everything, their artistic references, their aesthetic resonates. It’s refreshing and actual, a mix of volume, installation, and drawing.

What was the last exhibition or show you saw that stuck out to you?

To be honest it’s not a exhibition but the last album of Eartheater for the softness and hardness well balanced in her music and her aesthetic.

For me it’s a masterpiece, it’s what I’m looking for in music, this kind of satisfaction of well-balanced contrast.

I also have a beautiful memory of the exhibition of Philippe Pareno and Pierre Huygue In Pompidou Paris in 2013. The character Ann Lee is stuck in my mind, with the video No Ghost Just a Shell.

Are there any recent, upcoming or current projects you are working on?

I had a group exhibition during June 2024 called, Désanchanté, by the collective Affair.

And we made a video clip, it will be out in September 2024, for a song we did with my friends Virgile and Cala Kimera, who is an artist, musician, and singer from Paris.

The music is called « Slenderman ». Looking forward to showing it!

 

Interview conducted and edited by Ellie Schrader. All images courtesy of artist.