Barbara Christol

“Barbara Christol”, double-page portrait 36 ​​and 37. C de l’Art Magazine, December 2020 – January 2021 edition

I am a heliotrope plant, drawn to the sun. A native of Nîmes, I traveled extensively before recently choosing to settle back near the warmth and light of my hometown. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always had a pencil or paintbrush in my hands. From drawing classes at the Beaux-Arts, to advanced training with a Nîmes painters’ studio, to pursuing a PhD in Visual Arts at the Sorbonne, I have never stopped developing my creative journey. My favorite themes are space and play (…)

My practice is polymorphic (drawing, painting, illustration, but also woven performances and playful installations), and I cultivate the artisanal aspect of my work by leaving the construction lines visible and highlighted in my compositions, for example, by using mainly traditional materials and techniques that I mix and adapt with contemporary techniques…

I have chosen to present to you the latest diptych I created during the lockdown: “Points of View.” Each canvas is a geometric, architectural composition, with two vanishing points, contained in the center of a circle in a somewhat floating way above the horizon line. The idea of ​​working on perspectives and the notion of flight particularly interested me in this period of physical confinement. The diptych composition evokes the two eyes composing the human gaze and allows a variation in two different yet very similar points of view.

“Points of View“, Barbara Christol 2020. Diptych, mixed media on canvas. H46 x W80 cm

How do you choose your titles?

I choose the titles of my paintings after the fact, when they are finished. Sometimes when the entire series is finished. The title is often a reference taken from my literary pantheon (poetry by Borges, work by Lewis Carroll, artists’ books and references to aesthetic works by Deleuze or Bachelard which have informed my research…). The title can also be a detail of the creative process of the work, for example the dance of the compass on the canvas in the general architectural composition gave rise to the titles “Opera #1” and “Opera #2”. I consider the title and the work as a kind of poetry. They echo and extend each other.

“Opera #1”, Barbara Christol 2020. Mixed media on canvas. H46 x W62 cm

When you start a painting, do you have a clear idea of ​​the desired outcome?

When I start a painting, I don’t really have a precise idea of ​​the desired outcome. I would rather say that I create a work with an intention, which is sometimes the bias of a material or technical constraint. From this starting point, it is by progressing that I find my way. I consider artistic creation as a labyrinth, in which the artist is at a crossroads and advances by repetitions and trial and error while maintaining his guiding thread. I find Pierre Soulages’ quote on this subject very apt: “It is what I do that teaches me what I am looking for.”