Artistic process and approach

The artist in his former workshop in Val d'Oise in 2014

Nadia Vuillaume’s artistic approach, from the very beginning, is a will to remain faithful to creation. To be unique, different, innovative and to bring a new look to pictorial art.

The contemporary painter Nadia Vuillaume is atypical. She evolves far from the usual representations. With all her peculiarity, she advances in the contemporary figurative.

In the beginning:

First, turned to portrait painting, we recognize, in his works, the precise line, placed on the canvas like a surgical incision. 

The color applied in solid is violent, almost clumsy. The characters, with hard or receding eyes, are expressive of a deaf dialogue. So, her self-portraits reveal his difference. But also her fears, her doubts about her artistic signature. 

At the same time, she shows all her delicacy, her sensitivity, in her animal painting. There is a kind of respect for nature. A will not to touch the sacred. One feels all the restraint of the gesture, the choice reflected in the colors, for all that is not man’s creation. 

Constantly evolving:

The year 2010, is a turning point in the artist’s life. She asserts her difference through strong paintings. The abstract asserts itself. The canvases are purified of the superfluous. Her artistic approach opens the dialogue between her and the spectator through her codified canvases. She tackles different subjects such as friendship and its limits (The two friends), but also narcissism (Contemplation), suicide (Curtsey)…

From her various travels, she evolves her artistic approach, to use it as a means of communication. A means of questioning, of creating a questioning, an awareness. She thus tackles poverty in the world (Sap, Nourishing Earth). With her series “View“, the painter deals with physical and psychological imprisonment, urban sickness, depression?

New approach :

Nadia Vuillaume in her studio in Villette (78)

In 2014, the artistic approach of Nadia Vuillaume, which consists above all in provoking reactions, will evolve from traditional oil painting to mixed media. A new approach is born, with her series “Tell me why?” where she addresses the unhappiness of youth. 

Having understood that in his paintings, color was paramount, annihilating the hoped-for questioning. She rethinks her pictorial representation. Then the artist creates charcoal and wash portraits on a black background, reducing her palette to a minimum. She treats her subjects like sketches made on the spot, as if unfinished. 

The exhibition of this series at an Art Shopping exhibition at the Carrousel du Louvre was a great success.

Recognized and awarded:

If the artist was able to let doubt settle in her, faced with the indifference of the galleries. And if she has suffered from the refusal of art agents to promote her work. Today, the fact of being awarded and rewarded brings her serenity and freedom in her creation. She assumes her difference. 

Her solo exhibitions, in which she did not hesitate to show the diversity of her work, found an audience. For her, locking an artist into a unique style of representation is a hindrance to her creativity. Art cannot exist without freedom!

New paths:

In her artistic progression, the painter Nadia Vuillaume abandons codified painting, to which she has accustomed us. Until now, her paintings could simply be admired for their aestheticism. As much as each one could find where tracks of reading and references to themes or subjects addressed. From now on, she chooses to focus on the evolution of her technique.

She refuses to settle down in the ease of an acquired painting.  And from this principle of reflection, she realizes, that as a painter, she has never given free expression to her mediums. So she embarks on the adventure of no longer leading the material towards a definite representation. The idea is to no longer master or tame it, but let the matter compel him to think about it. To respect his choice to inscribe himself on the canvas, full and round or delicately tinted. Barely perceptible, even invisible in places! To create through successive experiments! By adding various mediums that attract or repel each other! By defying edited rules! Neither retouching varnish nor final varnish! 

The goal: to let time do its business. Accepting that what is, may not be anymore or different (example: Structure Vestigial).

To another pictorial representation:

With his “Mises en scène“, the artist no longer refers to a real subject. She no longer focuses on a social phenomenon. Just as, she no longer takes a position on a current topic. From now on, she offers us a pictorial representation, where the spectator, beyond marveling, can freely interpret the painting. A new  artistic approach where straight lines and curves are in opposition. Where empty and full, inside and outside merge. A game of illusion. Windows opening onto people’s intimacy. Characters implied by spaces of light. 

The illusion of an animated painting only by the suggestive!

In conclusion :

Nadia Vuillaume’s artistic work opens up many avenues of research, both visual and technical. In her artistic approach, there is also an absolute will to democratize art. To make it accessible to all. For this, on her website, the artist offers, among other things, a selection of works at low prices.