Cécile Duchêne-Malissin is a resolutely figurative painter. His canvases depict isolated characters, imbued with a certain melancholy, and seeming plunged into a deep introspection.
A diversity of mediums at the service of composition
The painting of Cécile Duchêne-Malissin cannot be labeled as it is unique: by themes, the composition, but also the technique, mixing acrylic, ink, paper and canvas painting. Wishing to move away from “the simple paint”, she uses it as a starting point on a partly marouflaged canvas, where she adds various techniques such as pastel to oil, graphite mine, collage and sometimes the sewing.
Cécile Duchêne-Malissin remains on the same theme for a long time, declining it on several canvases or drawings. Generally, it starts with a search for composition that it most of the time does with sketches to which it incorporates photos.
A dreamlike universe imbued with nostalgia
The paintings of Cécile Duchêne-Malissin do not mention any reference of time or place because that is not the important. Rather, it is a question of translating our fragility in front of the world and the need to hide behind a protective envelope.
If childhood occupied a large part in her work before, Cécile Duchêne-Malissin's approach now evolves. The relationship to the body and its fragility remains however. Fugacity of existence, a tiny trace that it represents on the scale of the universe: the history of humanity is as brief as a beat of wings.
Cécile Duchêne-Malissin transcribes this brevity thanks to transparencies obtained by a superposition of painting, ink and marouflated papers on the web. This ephemerity is approached in the "Disappearance" series, "Metamorphoses" or "Dust".
The characters of the canvases are revealed as much as they hide: behind masks, vegetation. They present themselves to the spectator, abandoned to the gaze, and yet all in restraint. But is it the spectator who observes the character, or the opposite?
To read: the interview with Cécile Duchêne-Malissin on Kazoart's blog
