"Matador" Painting

I was born in Nîmes in 1966 and my studio is located between Uzès and Nîmes, in the South of France. Coming from a family environment where art was not the usual path, I was encouraged at a very young age by a professional painter, which was decisive for me as I favored this mode of expression. Although I did not pursue classical art studies, I taught myself many techniques and studied the technique of the Flemish Primitives for 7 years, during which I created reproductions of paintings from the 15th and 16th centuries (Van Eyck, Van der Goes, and Bruegel). The techniques of the Flemish Masters of the 15th century inspire me to create timeless works, the successive glazes allowing light to penetrate the paint layers and intensify the colors that I call "color of light". In 2012, during an exhibition, I was awarded a gold medal for two pastels by the Fine Arts of Béziers. I have been presenting my work in my region regularly at collective and solo exhibitions since 2013. In parallel, I have been teaching drawing and painting to adults for 19 years in my studio. I work on several themes depending on my inspiration: the faces of the world, bullfighting, landscapes, and recently still life. In the representation of the human figure, my artistic practice is inspired by exoticism. Over the years, I have explored different cultures, from New Caledonia to Morocco and Africa, to feed my imagination. I seek to convey emotion, beauty, and light through my works, the beauty of faces, subtle-colored skins, the majesty of attitudes, a natural presence fascinates me. I appropriate images to reinterpret them with my imagination and sensitivity, seeking to capture the "soul-abyss", what one consents to show of oneself and what one unconsciously reveals. I saw my first bullfight as a child in Nîmes and I kept the memory of a spectacular world, a tragic theater, a colorful spectacle. The dramatic and aesthetic energy that emanates from the fight fascinates me. The tamed fear of the bullfighters, their gaze touches and challenges me. The fatal outcome of the bullfight only serves to sublimate this death in the arena, since it is never certain for whom it will occur. I seek to express the pure emotional force that emanates from bullfighting. I want my works to pay tribute to these men of light, ready to give their lives in such a unique battle. The theme of landscapes is strongly linked to my roots, my childhood, and my place of life.