92 SPRING 2019
Coming up with ideas can be very exciting as well.
You know when you have a solid sketch with a lot
of potential. The hard part for me is to find the
right combination of colors, which can take a long
time. I will change colors over and over again.
I prefer not to figure out too much in advance,
and I don’t think I could choose the colors ahead
of time on the computer. As frustrating and
grueling as it can be, the struggle with colors and
composition is part of the process for me now.
Although you are from France, you studied at
the Art Institute of Chicago, a city that often
gets forgotten when we consider American art.
To me, Chicago is so vital in understanding
American art history and culture, spawning
some of my favorite artists, whether the
Imagists, or Kerry James Marshall. Was it a
great place for you to start?
The reason I chose Chicago for an exchange
program was because I had heard of its unique
underground art movement in the ’70s and ’80s.
But, when I got there, I was 23 years old, and
I didn't really explore any of that. It was my first
time in the United States, and I was overwhelmed
by the novelty. Everything was new and exciting
to me. I went to class, hung out with my new
friends, and actually met my future husband
there, Clinton King, who is also an artist. There
was so much to take in: new music, new aesthetic,
popular culture, underground culture, language...
a new way of seeing the world.It’s only recently that I became more acquainted
with the Chicago artists. In 2013, a friend saw
my paintings and was reminded of Christina
Ramberg. When I discovered her works, I had a
shock, I felt too close to her and for a couple years,
and really resisted her influence. I think it took
me some time to figure out how to embrace her
influence while finding my own language.In 2014, I started to work for KAWS, who is an
avid collector of the Chicago Imagists, Peter Saul,
Westerman. When I worked for him, I had a chance
to experience these works in an intimate setting,
hold them in my hands. It felt pretty special.Strangely enough, I would say that one of my
early Chicago influences was the graphic novelist
and illustrator Chris Ware. Even now, reading his
novels reminds me so much of the Chicago mood.
The way he visually ties together the macro and
micro of a story, the mundane and the historical,
the individual and the collective really touches
me. He came up with creative ways to evoke time
and space with elaborate diagrams, I’m in love
with his colors and his line."The hard part for me is to find the
right combination of colors, which
can take a long time."
Above: In Link, Gouache and acrylic wash on paper, 12” x 9”, 2018