Saint Oma
BELIEVE IN THE IDEA TO SEE IT MATERIALIZE THROUGH THE DRAWING
COURSE
How did you become an artist?
In a way, it flows naturally from within without having to specifically say to oneself, "I am "Artist." It's a sensitivity that one develops, and in my case, I think it was a necessity to express myself. To be an artist is to have the need to say something, and therefore to find a form to do so. This artistic expression, developed six years ago, took shape about twenty years ago as I confronted the professional world and a job that didn't allow me to explore what I had to say. I spent fifteen years doing freelance work as an illustrator and animator, very creative but irrelevant projects, before this little character came into being and I understood that I could embody it, because it was an avatar expressing both form and content.
AND THE DRAWING WAS BORN FROM THE IDEA
Could you elaborate on the importance of the idea in your work, to which this character without expression or face literally gives form?
This character serves the idea. This style of writing was already present in my notebooks twenty years ago, but six years ago, this need to express myself emerged at the heart of my work, taking center stage in my artistic practice and developing naturally through this very simple and refined avatar that helps me synthesize. I then began to explore what had always intrigued, shocked, or challenged me, staging the human condition. The title always lends the drawing of ideas a certain edge, a play on words that opens it up to individual interpretation. This is what I find most appealing about this form of creation. The perceptions of others sometimes echo the initial thought, enriching it and also shedding light on what I intended to convey. This interplay through the interpretation of the proposition interests me and constitutes the driving force of my drawing.
Your style has an organic dimension, giving the impression that all the elements that make up the image come from a single whole. This also suggests a search for simplicity.
This reminds me of my own process: I see myself a bit like a sponge, absorbing the things that pass through me, digesting them, and recomposing them in my own way. There are no new ideas in what I propose, but rather a way of playing with them, transforming them into a new interpretation. The drawing thus represents a synthesis: it's not a visual proposition in the technical sense, because it's the simplicity that allows the idea to be immediately accessible through a scene, a snapshot of a fluid moment, with a before and an after. This form of expression goes against the grain of illustration. Previously, I was frustrated because my detailed sketches lacked substance: by showing these idea drawings, people reacted positively, and I realized there was something interesting there. While they were a bit raw, I now try to develop them towards a positive dimension, or one that prompts us to question things, in order to build something new. I didn't want to be simply making demands that «"The world is rotten."». We can make this observation, but what do we say with it?
Your work evokes a feeling of unease: this constant search is visible, the questions literally emanating from the drawing.
Finding ideas is a game that involves form. While sometimes they arise spontaneously from my observations, they most often originate from the drawing itself, from depicting a character in action who carries within them a story and a thought. I let myself be guided without knowing where I'm going, without knowing what it's telling me: there's a playful dimension to it, the drawing also having to surprise or amuse me. It's often only when it's finished that I realize what the guiding idea was. The character leads my questioning through this synthetic form, although I've always wanted to experiment with other forms of expression. Sometimes, I find myself more in touch with my feelings. For me, drawing is like a mirror, a back-and-forth between form and spirit, and some ideas sometimes emerge as if I were simply the conduit for something I received and had to transcribe.
Jacques Coursil speaks to define improvisation “of a premeditated act or of non-premeditation” and considers that “Through improvisation, one must invent an event, that is to say, the advent of a present.”
What he says is quite accurate: we create the framework to allow the unexpected to emerge, a structure from which we create a moment. This is the frustration of the music lover, the fact that jazz musicians manage to break free from a highly elaborate theme to arrive at a genuine moment of improvisation. We find this idea in confessional performances, which follow a protocol to allow for play and co-creation with the other person, listening to their response being translated into drawing, in the same way that the piece engraved in the groove represents this moment of living creation, in its instantaneous expression.
WHAT WE SEE AND WHAT WE BELIEVE
In an interview you quoted Claude Lévi-Strauss: «"The barbarian is the one who believes in barbarism."». What we think influences our future, like a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy between what is said and what will be drawn.
Everything we believe or think inevitably orchestrates a future that is commensurate with our thoughts and beliefs. Indeed, we must be vigilant, conscious of our way of thinking, because it indicates the direction we are taking. We bear responsibility for what we believe. This isn't about prophecy, but about events that will occur and corroborate this belief, thereby making us creators of these unconscious situations that we will then address ourselves. By believing, we bring these things into existence and give them life. This idea is reflected in drawing: what is in my mind? This material, as it crystallizes, then takes shape and becomes an image.
Your remark about vigilance is surprising, because it is often considered that the materialization of thought can be dangerous, rather than thought itself.
It is our stance that determines our actions and creates situations. Our beliefs give rise to unconscious actions that we perform naturally. For me, drawing represents a form of intuition, of absolute trust in what is happening, in what we feel in the face of the immediacy of the present. To speak of vigilance is to affirm that we are products of a history that conditions and shapes us through a prism of given beliefs about ourselves and the world. If we don't question these things, we cannot understand what is happening to us. However, it is very difficult to break free from our conditioning, from the persona we create for ourselves throughout our lives. In this act of drawing, there is, in my opinion, something that opens us up, that allows us to act in life in exactly the same way, by letting our thoughts circulate without fixating them, welcoming what is happening. Choosing Saint Oma as a name thus referred to beliefs of all kinds, whether esoteric, religious, scientific, or philosophical. They all condition us to see the world in a certain way.
Your character adopts a stance in relation to the world, almost akin to Pascal's wager, to choose whether or not to believe in it.
We are part of something fascinating: Life itself, a force of creation and movement embodying the idea of impermanence, constantly in the process of becoming and unmaking. We all participate in it, being ourselves in constant evolution. What do we do with this? How do we establish a just relationship with others? We are unique, like every plant, every grain of sand, and we possess phenomenal power; yet, we most often adopt a way of being, a conditioning that can cause us to miss a much deeper meaning. Every posture casts a shadow on a much truer aspect, but one that is impossible to grasp once we imprison ourselves in a persona, which distances us from ourselves, from our potential, and from what we have to express to the world. For behind the question of posture lies, in reality, that of reappropriation.
It is from Saint Thomas that the soul and body are considered to be able to constitute a single being, whereas previously they were distinguished.
The mind believes, and matter manifests itself in relation to that belief. And yet, it is clearly the same thing, like the creator and their drawing. We are all incredibly unique and non-hierarchical works of art, artisans of reality contributing to our own creation as well as that of the world around us. What is the real question behind the act of drawing? It is this interplay of movement, of mind and matter bound together.
ON URBAN ART
In what way is the street a unique space for creation?
What I like most about collage is that it's a proposition for everyone, immediate and simple. It's a way of asking questions, knowing that it can disappear after an hour. That's not a big deal; what's important to me is its very accessibility. I started in the street because I didn't have any distribution channels and a friend asked me to join him. I didn't have this outline of ideas at the time, but when I found it, I wanted to share it to see the reactions it provoked. So, the street was initially a testing ground, but also an enriching environment because of the direct interaction it allows. Putting collages in the street creates a sense of closeness with others, even if they don't like them, because they're easily removed. Furthermore, there's a social dimension to working outdoors, and we're often thanked for what we do, because it touches people to see someone contributing to the life of a neighborhood or city with an elaborate painting. This freedom I take in the street as an artist doesn't give me the feeling of performing.
What is your perspective on the ephemeral nature of collage?
Whether a collage remains for an hour or several weeks is part of the process. We offer a piece that can be torn down very quickly, so it's the act itself that counts. We take a photograph so we can say that it existed before the city eventually swallows it up. Here, the collage connects with the living, existing for a moment before disappearing, giving way to something else in an ephemeral movement.
What is your perspective on urban art today?
In my opinion, this isn't a movement like the groups of artists with a manifesto, such as Surrealism or Dadaism. It's about individual artists expressing themselves through street art. I don't think we should be focusing on purely artistic interpretations here, but there is a current, although it's impossible to say whether it falls within the realm of contemporary art. Perhaps it's an oversimplification to call it a trend: the street is now a more widely accepted medium, offering a potential avenue for experimentation for every artist.
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