A DEPRESSION OVER THE SOUTH
Marijah is my artist name. My real name is Marie-France Bac Cam Bao and I am a French multidisciplinary artist, born in Laos (1974) with Tai Dam roots. Due to the Vietnam War, my parents decided to leave Laos in 1976 for France where I grew up in the suburbs of Paris (Yvelines and Val d’Oise) since 2005 I have been settled in the South of France, where I continue to paint, draw, photograph and create digital art. After applied arts studies, my dream of designer disappeared to delve into visual arts at the University of Paris I Sorbonne. I live with my husband, son and daughter and work in the beautiful area of Occitanie in the Gard department, between Nîmes and Avignon. I share my time between art and my art teacher job. My paintings have been exhibited and are included in collections across different countries: France, USA, Belgium, Germany, UK, Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, China and UAE. I decided to become a professional artist five years after the end of my studies. In between I had a bread-and-butter job as an assistant teacher. Love for Art was still inside me. I decided to devote myself full time after a trip to West Africa. Having opened my eyes to the fact that Art is a manifestation of divine momentum, that remain in all of us and these impulses express themselves in me in the duality between fullness and emptiness, impulsivity and mastery of gesture. Everything is combined with a deep attachment to nature but torn by the needs of our modern society. It was clear to me at that moment that I would do my utmost.
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