Interview at the Rock Konkerne Gallery, Concarneau (Fr.)


 

First of all, I would like to congratulate you with this exhibition and tell you what strikes me first is the variety of your artworks and the variety of means of expression you use.

This variety comes from my teacher who also explores all forms of art. I explore a lot of techniques, I experiment different materials.

 

Are not you afraid to disperse?

Not at all, because, as expressed in this work which I called 'Panta Rei', everything changes every second, like the waves of the sea, it is necessary to take them, find a path and evolve. This is how we find new horizons, new boats, new sailors, new islands to explore and, each time, it is a new expression that is developing.

 

So when you feel a little less inspired in painting, you go into sculpture?

I told you, it depends on the waves which are there, sometimes it's a wave that inspires me for painting then it's a wave that inspires me in pottery, then in glasswork or in poetry ... it just comes, I feel this wave, I let it infiltrate me, then I have to express it. Have you heard of the Hindu god which is represented with 4 arms? It symbolizes the action of the Creator who works in many areas at once... the Hindus call him Vishnu, but it is also the universal Creator who every second creates something new, it is like a tsunami we swallow and that we have to give back to the Creator who is its source.

 

Your perception of art is quite original, because usually artists seek a specific style that characterizes them and choose a way of expression. Is there an artistic expression that you prefer?

No, I love them all. Every day, new ideas come up. Creation is also multiple. I cannot separate the art from the Source of all creation. Everything that we create comes from it. On the other hand, if one dares to say "I create", then, one creates an ego and this ego wants to take itself for a god. We want to be famous, the best, we get a big head and we get lost, because we build a fortress that one day collapses and then, we lose everything.

 

On the contrary, when we let the creative energy of the Source pass through us, we do not enclose anything, we retain nothing, we let it flow through us, we are the medium.

 

I would like to say that today's society has cut off its connection with the Creator. That touches me, that's why I created this pyramid in stained glass. Through this work, I want to reconnect with Him, a link that the Illuminati have cut. They use the pyramid symbol, but they cut off the top. This means they want to take power over men and over the world. The pyramid I created expresses the attachment of the people to their Creator, that is why here, the top is attached to the triangles that form the base and represent the people. By chance, my pyramid is made up of 144 triangles of glass, which reminded me of the 144.000 members of the Bible. I did not decide it, it is not my choice, it was fate that made the pyramid has 144 pieces, I discovered it when I finished the pyramid. My idea was to help recreate the link with the divine. The 1960s / 70s were a change with the New Age era, people wanted to get closer to God. But the 1990s saw a new start of materialism. And I want to renew this essential link, go beyond the theory and create a work that concretely reflects my link with the Creator.

 

 

At what age did you start art?

A week after meeting my teacher, I sculpted my first big statue, a boxing woman, made a plaster and which was offered. I was 17 years old then.

 

What was your career, what academy are you going out of?

I do not come from any academy, I learned everything from my teacher, as he had experienced a lot, he taught me a lot. He is a teacher who teaches by example. He just give one example and then one has to develop oneself, it's not someone who breaks the back of the work. I received a lot from him. I mostly remember what I call 'the direct style', which is realized without speaking, without thinking. His example trained me. The direct style is disturbing most people because everyone wants to control what he creates.

 

To be creative is walking towards freedom and then change one's art into spirituality and even divinity. This is an evolution we need to continue until we reach the top of the pyramid. So we can say: "All what I did, my Creator, I give it back to you, I did it for you, I give you back your creation. It's my recognition."

 

I noticed the importance of Chinese calligraphy in your paintings. What does it represent?

Calligraphy is an art of the present moment. In calligraphy, one cannot doubt, one has to draw in one go and this testifies the inner harmony. I really like this style, which is why I work a lot this way. Express one's own Tao, without any doubt. What I do is not really Chinese calligraphy because this also has its own rules, its frames. I would rather talk about ‘kaography’, my personal calligraphy. Some paintings mean nothing in particular, but they reflect the harmony of the moment. Some others represent the Chinese symbols of the hexagrams of the I Ching, the book of Changes.

 

You use a very wide variety of techniques.

I am always looking to grow and go beyond borders.

 

You use a variety of materials, oil painting, acrylic, ink, ecoline ... A picture particularly impressed me, it is entitled "why ???". I recognized the face of the crucified Christ. And below, this precision: charcoal and wine. It sounds strange, what did you want to say with it?

Yes, because Christ said, "Take, this is my blood." And the wine on the picture represents his blood. He suffered beyond what can be imagined, his body was full of blood.

 

It's a very expressive, very impressive painting ... Do you want to explain its title?

"Why ??? ". Why did they treat this man who did nothing, an innocent man? The question still hasn’t been answered.

 

If I understand correctly, you are a Christian, you belong to the Catholic religion?

Not at all. I do not have a religion, I do not like religions. I can speak to the Creator and, to believe in his son, Christ, we do not need religion. Religions brake believers in their freedom. They condition them, dictate them the way of living their faith. To address true love to the Father by Christ doesn’t need religions. God does not need religions to live his relationship to humanity. Humanity created religions because it had lost the link with its Creator. Religions want to tame, take power over men.

 

The true link with the Creator is a direct link of love from heart to heart. True love can spring from the heart of man to the universal heart of the Creator who beats every second. When one is an artist, one understands this beat. That is what I try to express in my paintings with the ecolines. Many stars, many colors, a lot of movement, everything changes. These paintings look like pictures of the universe, the cosmos. I observe a lot the stars, I know they have a lot of influence on the universe.

 

The circle is a figure that often comes back in your paintings. What symbol do you attach to it?

When we look at the universe, all the planets are round. The Creator has created circular circuits. The circle evokes the continuity of life, the continuity of movement. Creation is an ongoing process and the circle evokes this process. The circle is also the symbol of Zen: inside of us, the circuit of energy is circular, to allow it to evolve properly, we must be empty. If the ego occupies the whole space of our being, there is no room for this divine energy. This is why I placed sacred words in this circle, divine mantras that allow the reciter to reach a sacred dimension.

 

You have mixed several different languages: Hebrew, Sanskrit, Tibetan...

It is to express that racism does not make sense, that all languages can participate. I want to bring together all languages and say that one people is not the chosen people over another, all peoples are elected, every child is elected.

 

It's good news that you're telling us here!

It is not because I use Hebrew that I agree with this religion. I want to bring together all races and languages. This painting also expresses that we are only a very small part of this great universe and that each universe has its own language. Some use words, others use telepathy. We are not alone in the universe.

 

For you, it seems to me that art has other purpose than for other artists. You do not particularly look for aesthetics.

I only want to express that the Creator acts continually and that his creation works through his creatures. We must let pass the breath of God, his creation is beautiful. Just understand it.

 

I can imagine that you are waiting for something from the person who is looking at your artworks. Does it matter to you to be understood and appreciated?

Not really. If one does not understand, it means that this person is not open yet to the divine energy, and not yet ready to capture it. He will still have to open doors to access it ... He will have to cross tunnels to reach the stage where I am. I try to translate the feeling that inhabits me when the wave passes through me and to give others the desire to create, because one who does not create is dead. God creates all the time, you are his creation, and He wants to create every day through you.

 

It would change the world a lot, if each individual had the same understanding ... if the one who cares or who educates said: "It is God who heals / educates through me."

Yes, it's about revealing God in the other. Many people are imprisoned; they must be freed from their shackles. Many live an inner struggle between their ego and their soul. The soul wants to express God and the ego creates the brakes. The soul is related to God and the ego is related to matter. Society has forgotten its connection with the divine. God created humanity in his image, but it lost that thread because men think they are gods. This approach lacks humility. In this society, war is everywhere. Only money counts. The power dictates. Humanity has become a slave.

 

Your vision and your experience of art are very interesting. If I am right, art is divine and you are a divine channel.

My art is open and sincere. I do not hide anything, I do not use special effects. I want to share that with everyone.

 

When I see your beautiful pictures, I cannot believe that there is no special effect.

There is none, I only used solar energy, sunlight passing through beautiful blue bottles and this is the result without special effects, it is natural as the sun passing through the glass.

 

The harmony is really wonderful, we would like to have the eye as open as yours.

 

Here again, it is important to be attentive to the present moment, to be open to it and to act. We must not think and wait. We have to dive into action.

 

Since you do not let your mind control, you let chance into your creation?

Yes, I like to let chance happen because it is the hand of God. My preference in art is to let chance act in my work.

 

Has chance intervened in the colors of this cup?

 Yes, in raku, it's the fire that decides colors and nuances. Chance makes its way and I do not intervene.

 

When you work glass that way, it's very original. I have never met this before.

It's very simple, I mix ecoline (colored inks) and varnishes which I stick on cardboard or on glass and the chance intervenes to create forms in the matter. Sometimes I stick two different glasses against each other ... the techniques are multiple and new creations come out.

 

This canvas also mixes inks, varnishes and acrylic. The varnish searches its way through acrylic paint and creates effects that are impossible to paint. I throw energy into the material, they get married and create a new baby. In the same way, it is written that God took mud and blew on this mud to create the universe.

 

I first emphasized the variety of your creations. Now I would like to talk about the strength, the power of your achievements.

God also created with strength. Without strength, we cannot create. Without energy, we cannot create, we must be in good condition, in good Tao so that energy can pass through us. To carry out a new creation it is true that one needs strength. It is the strength of the Creator who passes through you, provided that you are in good condition to receive it.

 

The modern period has had many sick and disturbed artists who have given highly tortured works.

These artists were still searching their way, we must go through it, and each being begins with facing his anxieties. Everyone has gifts and qualities to create, everyone can be creative.

 

I think that on this point the public will have a difficulty to follow you.

Yes, because it is ego that cultivates doubt related to anxieties. Negative thoughts are brakes. But you can also be an open cup and ask God to help you create.

 

Your way of thinking is really very interesting. Your teacher is JOSHU GENKU...

Yes, it's his artist name but in the civil status, his name is Marc Du Pré. He is an immense artist, but what matters most to him is to sculpt human beings. He sculpted me too.

 

It's a way of speaking, I guess. Because what does it mean to sculpt a person?

It means helping people to open themselves, the shell that they are, so their discover their own pearl. Most of the time, people are very closed because of many lives of fear and are unable to open their own shell. Each shell is unique, each pearl is different. All DNAs are different, it's the pearl of every human being.

 

That's what I express in my art, and what I want to share with everyone.

 

 

I thank you for your faith, your smile and your vision so interesting and so generous.