IMAGINARY INTERVIEW
How did you come to create these works?
… to give form to my desire to spend less time lost in thought and return to action. To do what, deep down, I believe I am here to do.
To work with my hands: cutting, embroidering and assembling paper to make visible the truths that matter to me.
And to seize the opportunity to emancipate myself, to break free from control and from an excess of thoughts and emotions; to make room in my memory, keep only what is essential, and leave a positive trace behind.
What does your creative process involve, and how do you interpret it?
My practice is an act of deconstruction, transformation and reclamation. I begin with existing works, which I transform to create something new and singular.
In L’Art du collage au féminin, Blanca Ortiga writes that “collage is a tool of resistance and intellectual renewal, revealing the structures that have taken away our desire and our ability to think and create for ourselves (and to create ourselves).”
I deeply identify with this statement. My creative gestures—cutting, moving, reassembling and sewing—amount, in a way, to dismantling dominant structures that might have constrained our imagination and desire, so that we can reclaim the power to create ourselves.
Ultimately, it is a profoundly emancipatory gesture: a form of counterpower in the face of overly dominant structures and ways of thinking that dictate, standardise and impose conformity, sometimes leaving little room for dialogue, exchange or communication.
My creative practice is therefore also tied to reclaiming one’s identity and sense of self. Starting from fragments of history, culture and outside influences, I seek to gain a measure of autonomy and independence, creating works that in turn become objects of sharing and transmission, including through their sale.
Where do you find inspiration?
My inspiration comes first from within, but it is constantly nourished by encounters, exchanges with others and all kinds of mutual support.
It is deeply rooted in everyday life and the spirit of the times. I also draw on words: literary quotations, philosophical expressions, and the artists and personalities I have been fortunate enough to meet.
All of this becomes a living material that nourishes my perspective and gradually takes shape in my work.
I cannot resist mentioning two emblematic figures who inspire me: Ella Maillart and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
“How can one attain unchanging happiness? First, by knowing who I am.” — Ella Maillart, Bribes de sagesses
And “Take away the love of Beauty from our hearts, and you take away all the charm of life.” — Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Pensées Genevoises
What does art mean to you?
“It is to be entirely oneself.” — Verlaine
For me, art is a way of being in the world: something simple, alive and profoundly free. A space where action and thought continually support one another, allowing us to create, to question and, I hope, to touch hearts and minds.