What do you like about Marseille? Would you ever move to Paris?

I grew up in the south of France, surrounded by pine trees and cicadas. When I was 18 I went to Paris for my art studies, but it was obvious for me to escape the rain and to return to the South. I've been in Marseille for 3 years now and I feel at home here. Marseille is a wild city, but it's very warm, it's loud but it's also very loving. People here are much less individualistic than in the capital. And that's without mentioning the diversity of the city. 

For me it’s an incredible work/ life environment. After my day at the studio, I go diving in the sea, and eat pizzas with my friends in front of the sunset. 

How did you first get into art? Were you always creative as a child?

I was always the bad student who drew at the back of the class. Since I was a little girl I've been super creative and that's what drives me, everything else bores me. 

My mother used to bring me magazines that I would cut out and stick on the walls of my room. She never wanted to repaint the wall, she said it was my first work of art. Ah! The love of a mother (laughs) ... 

What concepts do you like to explore in your work?

I explore lots of different things in my work. I started with reflecting on the constant and infinite flow of images that we find today on the internet, questioning their place in this world of overconsumption and overproduction. Through collages I start from the principle that it doesn't make sense to recreate images anymore, because you can find them all on the internet, and that it is therefore more interesting to recover already existing images to tell my story. My stories talk a lot about childhood, about the opposition between this period of carefreeness and the violence of the world. I often oppose the child to the apocalypse, I set him up as a hero who could save us. Innocence remains a refuge for me. 

What art medium do you prefer to work in? Or do you prefer to mix mediums?

I like all mediums. I have attention deficit disorder, and working in different mediums helps me concentrate a lot. My brain can't concentrate on the same thing for too long. So for me it's a solution to be productive to switch from collage, to video, to painting. It allows me to constantly renew myself. But in the end it's all one work, I don't make any difference between all the mediums. 

How did you start doing your digital collages? 

I started about 10 years ago with 2D images at the beginning. I switched to video which allowed me more freedom and to work on sound, light, and acting. But I see my video collages as animated paintings, they are not videos for me, there is no beginning and end. 

What is the process of creating digital collages? 

I spend hours on the internet looking for material, photos, videos, sound. Then I gather this material in folders, I have thousands of images on my hard drives, it's like a collection. Then I cut and assemble my images with Photoshop, and if I want to make videos I use other software that allows me to animate my images. When I can, I shoot the images myself on a greenscreen, which gives me more freedom and saves me time during the overlay.

You tend to mix a lot of Pop Culture /film characters on your digital collages. How do you choose them and the subjects of your work?

There are a lot of different influences in my work, childhood is central to it but I've also been very influenced by the creation of the internet, and the whole 2.0 world. I also oscillate between fascination and repulsion for the United States, whose cultural and architectural references I take, but denounce the violence and the asepticization of this world. 

What is the main concept for this Miista collaboration? What was the initial inspiration?

The idea was to produce a series of collages inspired by the world of the Sukebans. Sukeban is the term used to designate girl gangs in Japan. They took place in Japanese society in the 70s. It is a real cultural and social phenomenon in Japan, directly associated with feminism, and a true symbol of novelty and emancipation of women within society. 

You visited us last week in London to shoot this creative collaboration with Miista. What do you think of London? What do you think the main differences between London and Paris are in fashion and the creative industry?

I work regularly in London and I love the city. People work very well, I like the perfectionist side. I don't feel too much difference in the creative industry from Paris; they are both very similar. But maybe London just takes itself a little less seriously. I like the English sense of humour. 

Who would be your dream subject/character to shoot? 

I think I would love to take pictures of my parents, to immortalise their love, they have been together for 50 years. I'll have to organise that soon. Otherwise I'd really like to go and shoot in deep America, the rednecks, the marginals, all those characters I've fantasised about in my work for a long time. And Madonna, if you're passing by, text me! 

What artwork are you working on right now?

I'm mostly working on painting at the moment, I'm quite obsessive, I'm always wanting to experiment with new techniques. 

Future plans that really excited you at the moment

I'm preparing an exhibition in Paris which will take place in November at the Ground Effect gallery. I'm also working on opening a big artist studio in Marseille. And in parallel I'm looking for residencies to go to NYC and Japan! 

Credits:

Juliet Casella @julietcasella

Maeva Marshal @maevamarshall