Isabelle Gautier interview by Clifford Brooks 1) Tell us a bit about yourself. What shaped your style of art from your childhood? I think my love for creating has always been part of my life. When you grow up in a small village in Normandy you learn how to create with your hands. I have always been surrounded by original art. Before the age of 10 I already had visited Le Louvre and been to Montmartre where I saw artists painting live. I was born the 5th child of seven children. It seemed to me I was always the odd number, never fitting with the younger and not quite with the older. I was often by myself dreaming, trying to find something to do and then I still wanted everybody to listen to what I had to say. It was not always easy to be heard. Expressionist artpainting or dancing-has always been a big outlet for me. 2) Where do you see your artwork going in the future? How is your style developing? My love for colors led me naturally into painting (oversized) colorful abstracts, but more recently I chose to create monochromatic artworks. Our environment seems to be overloaded with images and noises where messages and meaning get lost. Using few colors seems to me to be a stronger way to communicate. I believe the less you say, the more message there is. Maybe there is something true in what Rodin used to say: "The more simple we are, the more complete we become.� Using just one color but also texture and light is powerful and fascinating. It forces me to concentrate on the composition and balance. My recent series has an Asian feel to it where my intuition is the guidance that shapes and balances my strong and passionate work. My work itself is going back and forth, as a metronome does, between bold minimalist strokes and musical calligraphy. On one side, I work with texture and light to create powerful minimalist well balanced black shapes. Highly receptive to my environment I use painting as my meditation time to absorb and process the daily stimulations of our too busy life. On another side it seems I am writing musical calligraphy as I let my hands lead. Laying my canvas on the floor, my hand gives free lyrical interpretation to the music inside and around me. 3) Who is your favorite contemporary artists? Why? If I have to pick only one favorite contemporary artist I would say French painter Pierre Soulages gets the favor. Soulages has been working with mostly black mediums his entire career. He has put his emotions in a thousand of paintings studying the reflection of light and the matter for as long as we can remember his oeuvre. 4) What are a few of your favorite galleries to show your art? I love New-York City galleries, because they are avant-garde.
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