A new serie of drawings

This week, I started working on a new series of drawings inspired by gardens. As spring flowers bloom, turning even the least beautiful places into paradises, I want to capture this beauty before summer.

I don’t spend much time sitting outside because I’m scared of insects. That’s intriguing, isn’t? Why choose to draw a garden if I’m afraid of its inhabitants? That’s what I like about gardens. I love the flowers, the trees, all the colors and the smell. On the other hand, bees and spiders might be beneficial insects, but also my biggest fear. My childhood bedroom faced the garden and now, through my living room window facing my neighbour’s garden, I have the same feeling of contemplating things from a safe distance.

It’s an emotion I’m exploring slowly through these drawings: how to express the intriguing sensation of being an outsider, a witness, present but not belonging. There's something magical about observing the world unnoticed, imagining what people's lives could be. I like to look at people around me, waiting for the bus or shopping, not because to study human figure but as potential stories to tell: Reality is not as interesting as the "what if?" the idea of them, what's hidden ?

Even after three years exploring solitude and stillness through my art, there's still a difficulty in birthing this concept on paper. But some aspects are clearer because it's deliberate even if done subconsciously. The character is the last thing I draw, always from a distance. I can see it, but it can't. It doesn't have a face, so we can't talk; it doesn't face me, so it's not disturbed by my presence. It's safe for both of us, we're both in the same space but not sharing anything.