Maison & Jardin Magazine
RENCONTRE AVEC BARBARA CHRISTOL, ARTISTE PLASTICIENNE *
*A CONVERSATION WITH BARBARA CHRISTOL, VISUAL ARTIST
For Barbara Christol, a multidisciplinary visual artist with a polymorphic practice, balance is an essential pursuit. Painting, drawing, weaving, performance, and photography form a visual language where intimacy meets rigor. Trained at the Beaux-Arts and later at the Sorbonne, she weaves—both literally and metaphorically. Her work is driven by a search for harmony, by the resonance between forms, spaces, and time.
What were your first artistic influences?
I believe my first great love was Henri Matisse. In the 1980s, the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nîmes dedicated an exhibition to him, focused on his drawing practice. I was a child, but that visit was a shock. Later, I turned toward Kandinsky and Paul Klee. They profoundly shaped my perception of geometry and abstraction.
What draws you to this geometry?
Its deceptive simplicity. The immense work required to reach something refined, something right. I love the idea of moving toward the essential, of finding a form of balance while giving the impression of ease.
How does one reach this essential?
I think there is always a guiding thread running through my works, from one series to another and from one medium to the next. Everything responds, everything echoes. My woven work, for instance, extends drawing through the line—and the reverse is also true. I often begin with a constraint I set for myself. Then, as the gesture unfolds, new paths appear. Some become extensions, others open new doors. It is a living, organic process.
How did weaving enter your practice?
Weaving emerged from a need for nomadism. I was working on large-scale installations and performances—often photographed but difficult to transport. While traveling, I looked for a medium that would allow me to continue exploring space while remaining autonomous. Wool naturally imposed itself: light, malleable, capable of inhabiting a place with softness. I found a very soft sky‑blue wool—always the same one—which has accompanied me since my first weavings.
I would construct and then undo these ephemeral installations, like Penelope. They became a research process in their own right. I never cut the wool, I never altered the site. Only the photographic trace remained.
During lockdown, this relationship to weaving took on a new dimension. I began a monumental blanket, which became a work in itself—born from repetition and time. It now measures seven meters and continues to inspire my stagings. Each unfolding offers a new reading of space and invites a rediscovery of the sensitive dimension of places, even the most impersonal ones.
Which work best encapsulates your artistic universe?
I would mention the series “Blue Is the Color of My Dreams,” borrowing its title from Miró. It brings together my explorations of geometry, color, and intimacy. Blue reappears as a poetic breath at the heart of compositions that seem highly structured. For me, it embodies the alliance of softness and tension, silence and vibration. I love exploring those meeting zones where one does not expect me—where rigor becomes poetry.
UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS:
The artist will be featured in 2026:
Daring (Im)Possibilities – Artifact Projects Gallery – Manhattan’s Lower East Side, New York, USA
ARTexpo New York – Manhattan’s Lower East Side, New York, USA
Art Capital – Salon du Dessin et de la Peinture à l’Eau – Grand Palais – Paris, France
Los Angeles Art Show