“With my paintings, I create my own universe. I express emotions beyond that I can do with words, and I show the invisible that surrounds me.”
The Formative Years: A Transnational Upbringing’s Impact on Lepage Boisdron’s Art
Juliette Lepage Boisdron, a Parisian figurative artist born in 1971, expertly amalgamates various mediums into her artistic practice, such as painting, drawing, and contemporary art jewelry. Her intellectual prowess is emphasized by a Master’s degree in Art History, which she obtained from the prestigious Sorbonne University in Paris.
During her formative years, the artist led a cosmopolitan existence, steered by her father’s occupational ventures. Her family resided in Ufa, in the USSR when she was merely four, later transitioning to Abu Dhabi and finally settling in Manchuria when she reached the age of eight. This transnational upbringing undeniably imbued her work with a unique, creative perspective. The austere realities and bare environments of Russia and China were instrumental in sparking Juliette’s imaginative universe, as the tedium of everyday life impelled her towards the great outdoors and solitary exploration.
Residing in Liao Yang, China, the young artist’s vista was primarily dominated by the humdrum of everyday traffic, filled with trucks, buses, military vehicles, and bicycles. Her world was a muted palette of grays, blacks, dark blues, and a touch of khaki, reflected in the unvaried clothing of the local populace. Artistic encounters were sparse, only materializing during visits to temples or factories.
Annual visits to her familial home in Paris included brief sojourns in Beijing, where visits to various cultural sites were customary. Traditional Chinese paintings, particularly those featuring horses or misty landscapes executed with Chinese ink on rice paper, captivated Juliette. These experiences made an enduring impression on her imaginative sensibility, thereby shaping her subsequent artistic trajectory.
Upon reaching her teenage years, Juliette experienced a pivotal transition triggered by her parents’ divorce and the subsequent relocation to France. This monumental shift in circumstances left her feeling displaced and disoriented. As a form of protest and an attempt to adjust to her new European surroundings, she took on a bold appearance, shaving her head and aligning herself with the punk crowd. This decision represented the artist’s refusal to conform and her spirited attempt at acclimatizing to her new reality.
Juliette Lepage Boisdron: From Sorbonne to Diverse Cultural Capitals
At the tender age of 18, Juliette Lepage Boisdron embarked on a journey of self-discovery, departing her childhood home to pursue academic endeavors at the Sorbonne. Following the completion of her studies, an irresistible pull lured her eastward to Singapore. Here, Juliette honed her administrative skills in the realm of fine art, occupying the role of Art Gallery Director at various distinguished galleries. Subsequent chapters of her life unfurled in a series of dynamic locales: New York, Pondicherry, and finally back to Paris, where she lent her expertise to the Fondation Cartier’s website. Her journey continued to Portugal’s charming capital, Lisbon, where she immersed herself in the study of contemporary jewelry-making.
Juliette now divides her time between the cultural hubs of Basel in Switzerland, Paris, and Lisbon. From a young age, she has been intrinsically tied to the creation of art, initially through the medium of drawing. Embracing a means of expression that predates verbal communication, Juliette communicates with a potent, archaic language – that of painting, speaking not in words, but in raw, unabridged emotion.
Her wide-ranging experiences have profoundly influenced her artwork, painting an intricate tapestry that is filled with the color and texture of her life’s journey. A particular fascination for the roles of women in society and the complex relationships between humans and the natural world informs her work. Juliette’s art captures the peculiar beauty of non-traditional figures, celebrating the idiosyncratic, the broken, and the unique; it mirrors the inevitable fractures within each of us, an honest reflection of life’s imperfect symmetry.
There were moments when she questioned her artistic journey, viewing her painting as an indulgence rather than a necessity, even harshly dismissing her creations as insignificant. But her relentless passion for art would not be silenced. Today, Juliette is fiercely committed to her lifelong calling, recognizing that her artistic inclination was something she could never relinquish, even during periods of self-doubt.
As an established artist, Juliette is a proud member of DOCK Basel, SGBK section Basel, VISARTE (New Comer), and Klimt02. Her striking artwork has been showcased in exhibitions across America, Europe, and Asia. Presently, she is represented by reputable galleries in Basel, the United States, and Thailand, adding yet more chapters to her inspiring artistic journey.
Ink on Rice: Embracing the Beauty of Traditional Chinese Art
During her formative years, Juliette Lepage Boisdron, despite the absence of an artistic lineage, felt an unexplainable magnetism towards the realms of painting and jewelry. Her mother, an organ player, was her sole familial source of creative inspiration. Exposure to museums and galleries was not a part of her early life, yet Juliette found herself irresistibly fascinated by art. The seeds of this enduring passion were sown when she began fashioning mini villages and jewelry from discarded items she retrieved from a local dump near their apartment in China. This passion was to evolve and mature as she acquired knowledge in traditional jewelry-making techniques, thereby transitioning to using more noble and conventional materials.
Within the confines of her workspace, Juliette relies on the quintessential tools of a painter: rice paper, ink, water, and brushes, all arranged on a table. Solitude is her chosen companion when creating, frequently accompanied by music playing in the background of her studio. This sanctuary of creativity finds two manifestations – one in her home and the other in town. While on her travels, her iPad serves as her sketchpad, never ceasing to capture her artistic impulses.
The tapestry of Juliette’s artistic journey is rich with the influences of many renowned artists. Figures like Louis Bourgeois, Francesco Clemente, Myriam Cahn, Annette Barcelo have been significant to her, as well as artists from the Raw Art movement and those from India and South East Asia. The jewelry pieces created by Picasso and Niki de Saint Palles have also inspired her artistic trajectory.
Art, for Juliette, is not just a profession but a vital component of her existence. Her own paintings, she believes, are the purest articulations of her inner self. Each painting, to her, contributes to a larger narrative—an unspoken story, conveyed subtly through her art. This narrative bestows equal dignity upon each entity it comprises—humans, animals, plants—with no hierarchies in existence. Her artistry traverses diverse themes, spanning love, human relationships, the role of women in society, motherhood, and the intricate relationship between man and nature.
Juliette’s artistic voyage can be traced back to her childhood, when her chosen medium was ink pen on regular paper, less a choice than a necessity, given her circumstances. Her parents, despite not facing financial constraints, did not provide her with art supplies. Therefore, she resorted to using the materials provided at school during their weekly drawing classes.
Juliette Lepage Boisdron: From Acrylics to Ink, and Beyond
The passage of time saw Juliette Lepage Boisdron embarking on an exploration of various artistic mediums. Her journey led her to paint with oil and acrylic on diverse surfaces such as canvas and paper. A significant pivot in her creative expedition, however, occurred during her residency in Singapore, which spanned seven years in the 90s and a subsequent two-year period from 2017 to 2019.
In the vibrant city-state, she was fortunate enough to encounter the celebrated Singaporean artist, Lim Choon Jin. The encounter opened the doors for Juliette to the enthralling realm of traditional Chinese ink painting on rice paper.
Guided by the experienced hand of Lim Choon Jin, Juliette delved into the intricate subtleties of this venerable art form, understanding how to seamlessly blend contemporary facets into its traditional framework. The artist shared his unique approach to manipulating the brush and mixing varied products with the ink. Additionally, Juliette mastered the art of mounting her completed work onto another sheet of rice paper, using the sophisticated and age-old Chinese method of rice paper marouflage.
Juliette was captivated by this technique. The distinctive absorption of the ink by the rice paper, resulting in breathtaking visual effects, charmed her. To this day, this method stands out as her preferred artistic medium.
In the present year, she plans to broaden her artistic horizons further by continuing her endeavors in painting and jewelry creation. Moreover, she has a distinguished project on the horizon; Juliette intends to author a book chronicling her journey with ink art. The prospective book is envisioned to provide a window into her creative process and demonstrate the progression of her artistic style. Juliette sees this book as a reflection of her passion for art and a testament to her aspiration to share her creative journey with a global audience.
