Frédérique Girin

As a painter suffering from a neuromuscular disease that progressively deprives me of my movements, I had to considerably reduce the format of my watercolors. In order to continue to create large-scale works, I switched to glued papers for the production of which I looked, via neighbors' sites, for people who would come and tear, cut and glue papers according to my instructions. In exchange for this help, I work to pass on my artistic knowledge acquired in an art school alongside my studies in classical literature at the Lumière Lyon II University.

Each painting is the result of a unique human encounter where I play with the limits of my disability and where I play with the constraints brought by the different personalities who accompany me to build my work.

At the first session, I talk with the person to find out their skills/difficulties. For example: some people do not like tearing paper, we opt for cutting with scissors... The rigor of the cuts obtained makes me take the opposite approach (the Francis Ponge approach to things). I choose papers whose print or colors do not match to reintroduce a little disorder and therefore life, freedom. I use these beginnings as a pretext to build the work.

When I want to make a painting in acrylic paint, I choose people who are inexperienced in drawing and I favor the movement of the gesture for spontaneity. I also have to do some conceptualization work. Ex: painting a tulip is making a more or less closed "u" on the top. Painting a glass is making an eye for the opening, with a "u" underneath and an upside-down T to make a foot.

At different stages of the work, I take photos for a necessary step back for observation. It is on these occasions that we become aware of what needs to be done next, that we understand that the work is finished.

All these steps allow me to transmit the meaning of beauty to my "assistants/students" and to broaden the definition of it. It is still a way to democratize art that concerns all the children we have been, regardless of the cultural background from which we come and a way to make it accessible since there is no sale: people leave with the work that we have created together.

If you are interested in a collaborative work my workshop is wide open!

Discover contemporary artworks by Frédérique Girin, browse recent artworks and buy online. Categories: contemporary french artists. Artistic domains: Painting, Collages. Account type: Artist , member since 2019 (Country of origin France). Buy Frédérique Girin's latest works on ArtMajeur: Discover great art by contemporary artist Frédérique Girin. Browse artworks, buy original art or high end prints.

Artist Value, Biography, Artist's studio:

View full profile