The studio
Laure C., painter in Martigny
Laure C. was born in Roanne, France, in 1971, into a family that has painted for three generations: her father is a painter, and her paternal grandmother painted before him. She has lived and worked in Martigny, in the Valais, since 2004. She paints every day.
The approach
Her painting is smooth, with no impasto. Faces look straight at you, the eye is heavily drawn, the outlines are crisp, the colour is flat. Clothing matters as much as the face: checks, dots, stripes, fabric patterns. She brings to it the detail and the flirtatiousness of a designer who spent years drawing for print. She considers herself close to a craftsperson, and says so gladly.
The roosters of Bresse, then the Animals, then the first Portraits. Since Monaco in 2011, the Coquettes. She has also produced framed prints on canvas tarpaulin and kakemonos for large spaces, which she calls a lithograph revisited.
Her masters
Picasso, Francis Bacon, Pierre Soulages, Niki de Saint-Phalle, Richard Lindner. And from fashion, which she watches as closely as painting: Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Karl Lagerfeld, Vivienne Westwood.
The path
- 1989 Two years at the École des Beaux-Arts in Lyon.
- 1991 Enters E.S.A.G. in Paris.
- 1995 Graduates as a Graphic Designer.
- 1996 Head of creation at Droop, Paris: textiles, licensed products and packaging for museum shops.
- 2000s Freelance illustration. « Sur la piste des chats » for Nathan, menus and textiles for the Georges Blanc restaurant in Vonnas, where her roosters were exhibited, artwork on the kings of France for the Monnaie de Paris shop, and illustrations for Georges Duboeuf wines.
- 2003 Art teacher in Roanne.
- 2004 Moves to Switzerland.
- 2010 Visual arts teacher at the CPE in Sion.
- 2011 The Coquettes are born for an exhibition at the Metropole Shopping Center in Monte-Carlo. Each canvas carries a woman s first name. They have stayed with her ever since.
Made in Switzerland
Laure has lived and worked in Switzerland since 2004. The figurines, hearts and wooden supports are cut, sanded and painted by hand in her Martigny studio, as unique pieces or very small series. Nothing is mass-produced, nothing is imported.