On the cover: Lucile Gauvain interview
Le Mot Juste
Our cover art for the new issue of Delayed Gratification is Le Mot Juste by French artist Lucile Gauvain. She splits her time between working on film set design for major international movies and creating her own original works in her workshop in Paris.
How did you become an artist?
I have drawn since I was little. I went to art school, I went on to study architecture and I liked it, but I always felt I was missing something. Then I discovered the world of set design in cinema and it seemed perfect – it touched on architecture and drawing but I didn’t need to find my own topics to pursue because I just had to respond to someone’s requests and draw their ideas. After working on a few films, ideas emerged that I wanted to develop into my own artworks. Films gave me my voice.
Tell us about ‘Le Mot Juste’, our cover art
‘Le Mot Juste’ is an homage to the profession of graphic design, to set painters and to the collaboration between the two. This drawing represents the moment when the sets we’ve designed on the computer are created as props in the real world. It’s my most personal piece.
Lucile Gauvain
There’s a feeling of calm to it
Yes, that is present in a lot of my art. I like the idea of being able to capture a lovely moment and come back to it whenever I want, to linger on an action. I also think it relates to the person I am – a fairly melancholic person, I like to take a moment to process my emotions, I always need that calm time to be able to react to a situation.
You use coloured pencils – why?
They remind me of my childhood, it’s how I started drawing. They have a very innocent side to them and you can easily control what you draw, you can fill in small areas with great precision, then extend this to large formats.
How does the state of the world affect your art?
I find it hard to imagine that anyone can wake up in the morning and not feel impacted by the state of the world. I started drawing to share with people the beauty of small moments, the humanity found in doing things together. Now, though, I am starting to draw introspectively, to try to find that emotion of wellbeing – art has become a form of protection.
L’Ornement (Ornamentation) by Lucile Gauvain
Which artists do you admire?
I am a big fan of Yoshitomo Nara, as well as Ólafur Elíasson and James Turell, both of whose work deals in tranquility, beauty and poetry. I recently discovered a Parisian artist, Léo Forest, who draws these wonderful animals in motion, and Brian McHenry, who has a great drawing style, mainly pencil with a little coloured pencil too. I also like Peter Frederiksen, who creates these amazing cartoons in tapestry.
Delayed Gratification #53, featuring Lucile Gauvain’s art on the cover, is available now from our online shop.
Lucile Gauvain is represented by HOFA Gallery. You can see more of her work online at thehouseoffineart.com
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