MEET THE ARTIST
LOLA MATHÉ
"I try to infuse a meditative and contemplative dimension into my work, detached from any intellectualism, I prefer to turn towards the sensations felt. I do, it's instinctive."
LOLA MATHÉ
LOLA MATHÉ
visual artist & graphic designer, Paris (75)
Lola transports us into her world and shares with us her artistic journey.
Tell us your story, how did your vocation come to you?
I have always been manual. When I was little, I kept pieces of paper intended to be thrown away, I collected them, sometimes to reuse them but most of the time, to accumulate them, for the love of paper. Following my studies in Applied Arts, I specialized in interior design and decoration until today joining an artistic creation and production agency. At the same time, I lead my personal practice, centered around coffee painting and mixed media collage. In December 2022, I applied and joined Le Cercle de l'Art in order to open my approach more concretely to the artistic field and to take on this new vector of expression. This new adventure represents for me a first approach to exhibition, exchanges and meetings within a community of women artists.
How would you describe your style, your artistic approach in a few words?
Flowers are the main source of inspiration to nourish and create my collage collection. Observing them allows me to transcribe through my artistic work the emotion they provide. I begin by tracing its outlines on paper to create refined and emotionally evocative compositions, oscillating between figuration and abstraction. Creating the link between full and empty spaces, and in a careful play of balance, the volumes are articulated and the paper shapes symbolize the emergence and movement of these fleeting and ephemeral phenomena. A feeling of fragility permeates my works.
My collection of coffee paintings is part of a more minimalist approach, based on the idea of repetition: the point, the line, a color. It is defined by a harmonious use of shapes and lines obtained through the use of coffee as a medium. I like to think of my work as calligraphy, with its method, its measure, its rhythm. Thus, I try to infuse a meditative and contemplative dimension into my work, detached from any intellectualism, I prefer to turn towards the sensations felt. I do, it's instinctive.
What are the themes or subjects that inspire you the most in your work?
I am generally porous to everything around me. I think that absolutely everything is material for creation: what I see, what I hear, everything is a source of inspiration can give birth to new interpretations. I feed on images, perceptions, stories. I am passionate about philosophy, science, and poetry: I need that companionship.
Through my collection of collages "Petals", I am interested in the poetic and ephemeral nature of life, this way in which the physical, psychological or social world manifests itself to the sensitivity of a living being, and to what is within us. given to perceive the world from their articulations. The eye perceives and records colors, lights, reflections. He becomes a sensor of the world around him, approaching a sensitive beauty of everyday life. My collages are the reflection of imaginary landscapes where shapes and colors articulate and dialogue with each other.
Between letting go and control, my collection of coffee paintings is guided by the path of the brush; it is like a river along which I let myself be carried, it follows a rhythm, that of the heart. This walk offers a reflection on the connections that exist between each being, each thing. Whether visible or invisible, these connections - these lines - are omnipresent in our daily lives. By playing with different shades and textures arranged systematically, I create a constant variation of poetic and moving minimalist abstractions. I seek to connect, weave links, resonances.
In my series of coffee paintings, my work unfolds through intuitive works in which time, gesture and repetition occupy a preponderant place: I question what happens, what is repeated, what remains, what fades away.
How do you work?
I work in my workshop, based in Paris, in the 10th arrondissement. It's a small but bright and functional place, I breathe there without difficulty, I feel good there.
Paper is a bit like the backbone of my work, a central element, a link between different materials and tools that I use. I am keen to use materials that respect nature, which is why using coffee as a medium perfectly meets this desire to take care of the environment but also of myself. Paper, coffee, water, and a few brushes, that's all.
On the other hand, I accumulate and fill boxes with all kinds of papers, which I will then explore, select, with a desire to transform them, to sublimate them, to bring out new forms. I try to let myself be guided by the colors, thinking about their presence, the place they will occupy on the sheet of paper, looking for a balance, a vibration.
Do you have a particular technique, a particular know-how? Without revealing all your secrets to us, have you developed your own methods and techniques?
Let's take the example of coffee, which I use as a medium to create my illustrations. I haven't invented anything, and yet, I am always fascinated and amazed by the creative richness that this medium allows: a very rich raw material, full of nuances, textures, which I try to tame with each new creation. I appreciate this fun way of working by playing with water and coffee superimposed or removed depending on the desired effects. Its solubility in water also makes it a delicate technique to use.
Sometimes, I let the warm colors of the coffee escape onto the paper, the common thread of a deliberately constructed colored harmony. I play with its nuances, its density. I find it interesting and fun to work with, coffee offers a wide range of nuances and iridescent reflections depending on its density, it captures and reflects light, it lives on paper. It also means bringing everyday materials back to life, considering them differently, transforming them and enhancing them. Carry out experiments, tests, trials, see how a coffee stain (re)acts on the paper. It's like a meeting, a conversation between the paper and me. Unlike any mechanical vision, painting with coffee also means leaving room for irregularity, for a tremor of the hand. It's letting yourself be surprised by an uncontrolled clumsiness, being surprised by a happy accident, a blunder. And it is all this that animates my works with a soul and a sensitive emotion.
Tell us about your daily life, your constraints, your joys, your successes…
I always had the feeling of making my passion my profession. Without damaging this passion. It's precious and it's an opportunity, a luxury, I'm fully aware of it and grateful.
I think that in our unconscious there are preformed elements which will lead us towards beings and events which are favorable to us. That you have to trust life. I have absolutely no idea what tomorrow will bring and sometimes it terrifies me. But, when I look back on my traced path, the one that I followed without really knowing, I let myself be carried along. There were key moments, stories, experiences, feelings, stories, feelings, words, silences, food, beauty, desires, joys, sorrows, fears , dreams, projects. All of this constitutes me today and this path is proving beneficial.
I think it is good to place ourselves in a certain availability, an abandonment to the encounter, to the circumstance and the desire to capture what is said, to experience our emotions, these little windows of the soul which open up to freedom of expression. When they pluck you from your daily life, it becomes a window to escape and a door open to the imagination.
SOME PIECES BY THE ARTIST
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€19,99 EUR
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€19,99 EUR
Unit price
per
Tax included.
Shipping calculated at checkout.