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

I was born in France but I grew up in New Haven, CT, until 5, before moving to Paris suburbs. I studied in applied art schools in Paris, before entering an art school in Geneva, Switzerland, where I still currently live. It’s a city I grew quite fond of, you have access to beautiful lake and rivers across town. I live in an area called Jonction because it’s where two rivers meet and my studio is down the street in an old factory by the water. I started oil painting near the end of my studies and it clicked, I’m self-taught and I feel lucky to have found something that feels so satisfying. In the past years I’ve been developing an aesthetic that revolves around a pop iconography and white trash culture to address girlhood, often in a partying setting. My work points to recurring patterns such as self-image, the double or friendship mimesis.

What are some recent, upcoming or current projects you are working on?

I’m excited for my first institutional show in February, in la synagogue de Delme, a quite remote art center in France. We are twelve painters to exhibit together under the theme of the French independent « salons » of the end of the 19th century-beginning 20th. It’s the director’s last curation before his leave and I’m expecting the opening to be a cute off the grid moment with many artists already a bit acquainted.

How do you source your references for your paintings?

I’ve been mainly digging online images of drunk girls as source material for my work as it stirs up teenage memories and personal stories. When I was younger I went through quite a few blackouts that used to trigger a rather eerie sensation. I’ve been addressing in my paintings teenage sexuality and humiliation to revisite earlier eras. I use as references low resolution images of random girls that I could relate to, such as flashed flip phones pictures of pulled-down pair of jeans at parties. The type of images I’m after require a certain pictoriality to it, thanks to its heavily compressed nature. In this first phase I usually always spot the details I’m already excited about.

Give me an example of how your process usually works.

Once I found an image that I find enticing in its content and in its painterly potential, I do some cropping, stretching and editing in order to concentrate the focus on some main subject. I like when paintings are straightforward and depicting one main feature, I guess it’s what makes it pop. I then sketch on canvas with diluted paint to place elements, then a session or two applying most of the opaque layers of paint, from there it’s pretty much fixed. Then comes the layers of glaze one on top of the other, which is to me the coolest part since you get to experiment color transparency.

Do you have any daily rituals?

My favorite ritual is to swim in the river down the street at all seasons. Icy water is the best shot of serotonin, it’s so fulfilling. Diving head first has been giving me nice transparent-turquoise underwater dreams.

Have you had any dreams that stuck out to you lately, and if so, would you be willing to share?

The last dream that stuck out the most was one about an angel. I’m in a garden at night circling the walls of a house unable to find the door but after a while I find a group of people on the porch surrounding a tall figure glowing in the dark. He is twice my size, short hair, not-of-this-world beautiful and wearing designer clothes. His light is blue but from up-close you can see all the color spectrum. When attempting to touch his fingers it was like going through a warm cloud, his chest felt even warmer. I realise how cold and dark it is outside when I’m not standing near him.

What artists do you think are making important work?

There are many contemporary female painters that are making work I resonate with a lot. Based in NY, I’m particularly interested in the work of Catherine Mulligan, Michelle Uckotter, Kelsey Isaacs, Marie Connor and Hannah Taurins. Also Kira Scerbin, based in Chicago and Alexandra Metcalf, based in Berlin.

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

For me solo shows hit different and I was really impressed with Elise Corpataux’s painting show in Kunsthalle Friart in Fribourg, CH. Her work is addressing memories, nostalgia, music and there was a kind of late summer atmosphere to it.

In a few words, what do you think your work is ultimately trying to say?

Literally in a few words…girlhood spectrum, sexuality, addressing trauma, love, psychedelics, taking space, healing.

Can you share one of the best or worst reactions you have gotten as a result of your work?

I sent a picture of a painting I did of two girls kissing to my dad, titled ‘Eternal spark of the universe’. He called me panicking that he got hacked, that he was seeing an AI image of legs spread-open for some split seconds before turning-back to the actual image. I wonder if it was AI or his brain, because many people spontaneously told me they were actually seing a subliminal vulva or anus when looking at the painting irl. If I squint my eyes and hide the upper part, I actually see it too.

 

 

Interview conducted and edited by Liam Owings