The Faceless project started from the need to tell the human body and the huge communicative potential that it brings; as the title says, the idea is acting by subtraction, revealing the absence of the face as the basis for an investigation of the movement.

The face, with its wealth of expression and the ability to attract, by itself, the attention of the viewer, is thus concealed; the body remains. This “interference” creates alienating figures. Faceless is intended also as a reflection on the different identities that the body assumes in relation to the natural and cultural environment in which it operates. The center of the project is, in a nutshell, the conflict generated by the juxtaposition of the body to the face, hidden-replaced from time to time by simulacra of our lives: wigs, masks, clothes…

The project is divided into more or less short series of photographs; until now only have been produced five works on the subject: Feminea, Black Russian, Siren’s Dream, Countryland and Swamp Women.

These two mixed media paintings show a movement to connections of color. There are layers of color to represent the unity and disruption of connections.
Jackson Pollock and Vincent Van Gogh are  inspirations for these works.

“I DREAM, THEREFORE, I AM”

I CREATE ART BECAUSE I MUST.
IT IS A NECESSARY EXTENSION OF MY LIFE.
IT IDENTIFIES AND SUBSTANTIATES MY EXISTENCE.
IT IS MY PROFILE AND MY LEGACY.
I WANT TO INTRIGUE AND ENTERTAIN.
I WANT TO INITIATE WONDER AND QUESTIONS.

I love to peruse flea markets, resale shops, hardware stores and the like. This is where I get a lot of my ideas for my mixed media work.
I WANT TO COMMUNICATE MY THOUGHTS, DREAMS AND DESIRES.
MOST OF ALL, I WANT TO BE!

“I DREAM, THEREFORE, I AM”

I CREATE ART BECAUSE I MUST.
IT IS A NECESSARY EXTENSION OF MY LIFE.
IT IDENTIFIES AND SUBSTANTIATES MY EXISTENCE.
IT IS MY PROFILE AND MY LEGACY.
I WANT TO INTRIGUE AND ENTERTAIN.
I WANT TO INITIATE WONDER AND QUESTIONS.
I WANT TO COMMUNICATE MY THOUGHTS, DREAMS AND DESIRES.
MOST OF ALL, I WANT TO BE!

My recent paintings, DC Friends and DC Trio, are a homage to the “Three Graces”, and an expression of my identity as an artist from the Washington DC area.

“Ma Poupée de lumière, 1er mouvement” is an interactive piece for dance, lighting dress, piano and electro-acoustic band.

On stage, a dancer performs in a illuminating dress. A musician controls the lights (leds) that are integrated into the dress of the dancer. The dress is designed as an interface that allow us to see the dancer’s sensations, in response to music.

Extending the musical score to another dimension, the musician plays a light partition. In addition to the sound, the musician produces light pulses worn by the dancer. These are the impulses that guide the movement of the latter, making it a “puppet”. This new possibility offer alternative ways of apprehending the musical playing, and a new dimension to relationships with the body and relationships with the other.

Conceptual motivation :

Traditionnally, in dance, dancers follow the music: their gesture, either it is written or improvised, is rythmed by the music. Music emplies us with emotions, sensations. We sometimes have the impression that music penetrates us within all the single pore of our body, giving us an intense experience (that can be positive or negative). Music produces within us a large scale of emotions. How to communicate these emotions with people surrounding us? We have nowadays powerful information technologies that allow us to communicate with people all over the world, but how about expressing our intimate feelings? Sometimes it’s just media that dictate our toughts, behaviours, feelings. « Ma Poupée de lumière, 1er mouvement » offers a poetic vision on how technology can increase us but also influence us. The dancer who is wearing the interactive dress moves according to the lighting of this dress, making him like a puppet.

This project can also be presented as an interactive installation. A MIDI keyboard is placed next to the dress worn by a model or dressed on a mannequin. A computer make the interface between the keyboard and the dress. Visitors can interact with the lights on the dress by playing the keyboard. This option is very interesting as it invites people to experiment playing with lights.

The dress has 18 LEDs (light electro-luminescent diodes) fixed on it. These lights are magnifient by flowers made with a semi-transparent fabric. The dress is white and reflects perfectly the blue of the lights. It is not just lights on a costume, but lights are thought as part of the costume. The LEDs form kind of a line coming from the bottom to the top of the dress. Electric threads are hidden. The behaviour of the dress is controlled by a « Arduino » microcontroller: the lower the pitch of the played note is, the lower part of the dress illumintes; the higher the pitch, the higher part the dress shines. Furthermore, below a certain threshold, the dress doesn’t illuminate at all (making a parallel with death). Conversely, the very high pitches lighten all the lights, insufling the maximum of life to the dress. Transitions are smoothed by a fonction applied on data, to avoid the « on/off » effect.

Pictures on

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26577177@N02/sets/72157605056653058/

Video on :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsG0APKA9Yc