WING QUEST. Acrylic & spraypaint on canvas. 100×146cm. 2011

This piece, such as all the drawings of this blue-red serie, is made as a mandala*.
The term is of Hindu origin and appears in the Rig Veda as the name of the sections of the work, but is also used in other Indian religions, particularly Buddhism. They are also a key part of anuttarayoga tantra meditation practices.

In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of aspirants and adepts, as a spiritual teaching tool, for establishing a sacred space, and as an aid to meditation and trance induction. According to the psychologist David Fontana, its symbolic nature can help one “to access progressively deeper levels of the unconscious, ultimately assisting the meditator to experience a mystical sense of oneness with the ultimate unity from which the cosmos in all its manifold forms arises.” The psychoanalyst Carl Jung saw the mandala as “a representation of the unconscious self,” and believed his paintings of mandalas enabled him to identify emotional disorders and work towards wholeness in personality.

I’ve been working on symetric handmade geometry in order to find myself again. I used this technique as a call to my soul. It went away for a wide, and i needed to make the connexion back on. I found a way while drawing with shapes in a spontaneous way. I allowed myself to forget the figurative dimension of the shapes that would compose this face, or I’d rather say this universe, so that I could get closer to my truth.
This canva has been inspired by this previous drawing. A symetrical face, made of two profiles fusing into one winged being. Traveling inside in order to evolve in a better way outside.

WING QUEST. Gouache, pen and pencil on 250g paper. 50×70cm. 2011

(Detail) Gouache, pen and pencil on 250g paper. 50×70cm. 2011

The conscious eyes closed, in order to provoke the opening of the one able to access to universal unconsciousness. Taking another point of view on my universe, so as to find back my place in it. And make it evolve the right way.

It brought me good and I still need and enjoy to work that way.

WINGQUEST. Portrait by Chase Erachi. 2011

WINGQUEST. (Detail) Acrylic and spraypaint on canvas. 100×146cm. 2011

WING QUEST. Acrylic and spraypaint on canvas. 100×146cm. 2011

THE ILL & THE HEALER. 55×75cm. Gouache, pen and pencil on 250g paper. 2011

Before this serie, I have spent years of practicing contrast without lines, making color stand forthemselves one beside the other, helping eachother to got more impact thanks to the contrast of the ones beside it.

But I felt like changing this rules, I had to find new esthetics, I wanted to be surprised.

I wanted to bring a cynetic dimension to the work.I’ve been working again with limited colors. Just black and white plus red and blue. I’ve been using alternation of lines of diferent colors , I also started to work with shade in oredr to bring a bit of volume to my work that has been flatter and bolder with the years of simplification.

I kept on working on faces, mixing lines thanks to the juxtaposition of various profiles, and was happy to see how these faces seemed to move, floating on the paper.

I & THE SHADOW. 20×30cm. Gouache, pen and pencil on 250g paper. 2011

I & THE SHADOW.(Detail). Gouache, pen and pencil on 250g paper.  2011

I started with one and then just let my hand keep on till almost 12 were done. Here are some of them.

I & THE SHADOW. 20×30cm. Gouache, pen and pencil on 250g paper. 2011

I presented my latest works, and had to paint a 6×4m mural on which a 2×2m wooden square was hanged in the center.

THESE FEW WORDS. Acrylic and spraypaint on wood. 200×200xcm. 2011

Just before I came, I started to make some spontaneous free writings on paper. I always loved writing, playing with the meaning and shapes of words and letters, but I spent most of these last years working on the abstraction of realism. During the process of this mural, I enjoyed the organic freedom of playings with words’ curves and rimes.

REMED. Gouache and markor on paper. 2011

The first meeting I had with letters was with the ones that build my name. I have repeated them, on and on.  Alzays living a part of spontanity that would bring the unexpected variations that would surprise me.

CES QUELQUES MOTS. Spray and pen on paper. SKETCH for the wallpainting.

For the wall, I’ve been inspired by this paper, but wanted to find a sentence that would provoke a deeper feeling than a name can do. So I tried to find some rimes. And these came out :

“THIS FEW WORDS THAT CURE MY ILLNESS, THESE FEW LINES THAT CALL YOU WITNESS.”

The text is written in french which is : “Ces quelques mots qui soignent mes maux, ces quelques signes qui vous font signe.”

“CES QUELQUES MOTS…” (THESE FEW WORDS…). Spraypaint and acrylic on wall, with 2×2m canva in the center. 2011

DETAIL of  “CES QUELQUES MOTS…” (THESE FEW WORDS…). Spraypaint and acrylic on wall, with 2×2m canva in the center. 2011

I painted the center part with acrylic paint so that it would be much cleaner than the wall, and create a contrast between the mural and the canva.

“CES QUELQUES MOTS...” (THESE FEW WORDS…)

I had the chance to see my Art exhibited beside great artists that i consider as my father such as Hundert Vasser, or Keith Haring.

WORDS OF (HE)ART. Acrylic on wall. 400×600cm. NY, CMA museum. 2011

I went their in order to paint a mural inside the new local of the museum, down Manhattan. I decided to make something that would spread a good message to the kids. A bit of an utopy I’ve always tried to protect against the teeth of cynism. I wanted to believe it is still possible to be naiv. And allow one to be hopefull.

WORDS OF (HE)ART. pen and gouache on paper. Sketch

I searched first about a drawing, a visual, made of symbols, but found out my expression will be clearer if i use words. And that was a great excuse for me to play with letters curves and rimes.

WORDS OF (HE)ART. Acrylic on wall. 400×600cm. NY, CMA museum. 2011

JULIA IN FRONT OF THE (HE)ART WORDS. 2001. NY,USA

During the opening, more than 1000 people came, and most of them were children. They had the opportunitys to take part in workshop in order to create some Art that truely amazed me. Here are a few samples of what they did.

CHILDREN ART WORKS. Result of the opening workshop. NY. 2011

The aim of the exhibition was to present some Art that would inspire children to create. All artists presented worked once in public space. That was the link between all of us.

Here are a few pictures of what the kids could see while discovering the museum

KEITH HARRING AT CMA MUSEUM. NY, 2011

HUNDERT WASSER AT CMA MUSEUM. NY, 2011

CRISTO AT CMA MUSEUM. NY, 2011

The museum is located in Manhattan, down Charlton street & hudson. I invite you to visit it if you’re around some day.

P E A C E

THE I BIRD. Detail. Acrylic and spray paint on wall. 10×20m

At first, I wanted to paint a drawing I already made a few weeks before, a kind of face that mutate into a bird, a sort of Phoenix I guess.

THE I BIRD. Gouache on paper 250g. 30×40cm. 2011

The original was really colorfull, but i felt like it wasn’t anymore the colors i wanted to use cause i wanted to keep the awesome texture that the wall gain through the years thanks to erosion. I wanted to keep most of the soul of it.

So i changed the color game into something more simple but also more contrasted with the color and texture of the wall. I felt like it was moment for me to come back to basic contrast and line game.

THE I BIRD. Work in progress.

THE I BIRD. 10×20m. Lodz, POLAND. 2011