LEA AUGEREAU
It’s rather funny how the act of observing an artist’s work, art critics and historians believe gathering little details from the work allows them to know this artist personally.
Having studied the history of art for a brief two years, I am one of those critics that look at a piece of art work and begin to unravel the tiniest of details to make sense of what the artist was feeling and what his/her life was like.
So, it came to me as a surprise when I automatically assumed Paris based artist, Lea Augereau is somewhat of a black female activist of some sort, I couldn’t be anymore wrong.
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Augereau, or rather, Lea, I think we can be on a first name basis, is a self-acclaimed humanist. While a high percentage of the world, especially the millennials such as myself are all for activism and throwing out hashtags, such as #menaretrash and #blackgirlmagic or whatever the latest trend is, Lea believes all humans are equal and does not discriminate based on their gender, race or even your societal status.
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While, I agree with this thinking, let’s just say, these hashtags are also popularising issues in relation to feminism and racial issues in today’s world.
I talk to LEA AUGEREAU about fitting in, the art world and how clueless an artist is about the previous art movements. Lea is an unorthodox artist, one that is complex and finds it difficult to follow the rules.
1. Who is Lea Augereau? Any artistic educational background? How would you describe your character?
No, I haven’t make long studies, I have tried to make/create things as early as possible, just because I never felt good in the educational system since I was 2 years old; the beginning!!! Ha ha ha, as for my character, I have never found my place, so when I see all the possibilities and things we can do in life I have this need to try and stop school! My friends can describe me better than myself but they say I am strange sometimes (hahaha). I am a bit complex, I need to be alone a lot and it’s difficult for me to follow the rules and conventions, but I am someone who can be described as nice and kind, I try to just give good vibrations to other peoples, it’s a work in progress and I make these changes to myself and that makes me feel better.
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2. Being a Paris based artist, would you say majority of your art pieces attract more of the French audience/viewers? If not, who are your viewers? What race do you think it attracts more?
when I started to create paintings, I had no idea about art and the universe it surrounds. I started to understand this world and Paris could not to be a better place for a young artist, am I right?
I attract more individuals from the United States (New York, Los Angeles, California) also in London, Melbourne (Australia), Germany and Sweden. Those are my top viewers, as for the French, they fall into the last position.
I don’t like the term race, as you know I am humanist, but it’s all mixed in my paintings, there also boys who follow my work, more and more and that’s pretty cool :)
3. Majority of your subjects is of the black female. Any reason for this ? what inspired this choice?
As I mentioned previously, I am a humanist, and I can’t support people who discriminate others by their colours or gender. People who were and are the most affected by this are the females and black population. I want these things to change and I don’t know if my little paintings can do something… but I do it anyway.
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4. How would you describe your art? What art movement/period would you say you would most likely be put into? i.e. Cubism, Fauvism, Impressionism, Expressionism…etc.
Honestly I am gonna seem stupid but I don’t care. I don’t exactly know what fauvism, expressionism…etc are. I have an idea but nothing concrete. I do things based on my emotions, and when I like a piece of art I’m not interested in what the name of the style or even the name of the piece, I just like it. I don’t want put anything in my paintings, everything made before, all these paintings in museum it’s just so beautiful, I don’t want even try to make something similar or compare my work, if I do this, I stop everything!!! hahaha
5. What is art? In your words, do you think art can or should be defined?
No, I think art can’t be defined, and we can try, we can speak about it, but the best thing to do for me, is to just to feel it.
6. What inspires your paintings? Are they actual events in your life or a conjunction of the surreal imagination and reality?
I think it’s a mix. Yes, of course elements in my life, personal and more general things are reflected in my paintings. Also, I inject surrealism in my work all the time.
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7. If you could pick one artist from the Modern art period , who would it be?
All of these artists are just incredible; Egon Schiele, Frida Kahlo, Sonia Delaunay, David Hockney, Rene Magritte, Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, Monet, Dali, Picasso, the list goes on and I can’t chose one! I can maybe choose some of my fave paintings by them (but long list)
8. As an artist, what is your process? How do you go about creating?
I need to have lots of personal objects around me, lost in my own world, listen music and lots of coffee and tea!!! I create the most of the time in my little flat but I try to go back to my mums’ house more often because I have more space and therefore create bigger paintings.