Pascaline Lopez | Contemporary Artist: Artworks & Biography

Pascaline Lopez is a native of Ain. The artist’s passion goes back to her childhood. Her memories take her back to the kitchen where her mother, an amateur painter, evolved amongst tubes of paint and turpentine. She remembers the delicious smell of linseed oil. Pascaline loved watching her mother paint, captivated by the way her hands made the brush dance on the canvas with infinite grace. It was therefore natural that the young woman would begin to create. She became a graphic designer by trade, but painting still occupied a privileged and increasingly important role in her life. Her inspirations are as varied and eclectic as her strokes and her heart ""rants."" Pascaline appreciates the aesthetics of Edward Hopper's work for his contrasts, Frida Kahlo for her strength, and Dali for his madness (American, Mexican and Catalan artists of the twentieth century). She also admires Ernest Pignon- Ernest and Banksy for their commitment (French and English artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, figures of European urban art). The artist condemns the cowardice and folly of men, praising the strength of women and the outlook of a child, revels in the smell of coffee and is moved by a stolen kiss. Her paintings therefore transcribe the fascination she feels for man, ""this bipolar being, capable of the best and the worst "" that both intrigues and frightens her. The artist portrays him and his duality with the brush or knife, always proceeding in the same way. She first prepares the background by covering it with collages and then varies the material effects using acrylic, charcoal, ink, marker or watercolour. She depicts her models and their multitude of styles and expressions, showing them worried, proud, soft, solid or feline. ""They come out of a ghetto or a castle, these proletarian, bohemian characters, to align on canvas or wood."" She reveals their ""innards"" with a sure stroke, slicing without error and exposing unpolished ""the feelings, troubles and injuries stashed under their armour.""