Centered around the theme of rocks, the sky, sea and fields, Marine Wallon's motifs are recognisable… Zooming in and out, they bear witness to a certain way of perceiving the landscape through which the artist develops her pictorial approach. From the outset, she resolves the issue of the subjet by starting with screenshots from films by professionals or amateurs, most often of a touristic nature. "It allows me to call upon the elsewhere," she explains. "While I initially concentrated on the USA, I now like to say that I have works which come from all five continents… It is a way of depicting the real world as it exists in these archives, while triggering a geographical displacement for the imagination."
After long training in drawing and the use of clay, painting prevailed for Marine Wallon for the amplitude of the gesture it requires, and the way it allows the gaze to circulate within it. The artist makes preparatory sketches then invites painting to "speak" in a subtle balance between control and letting go. "My gaze must then be highly focused, to encourage freedom of movement." She thus establishes a link between recognisable landscapes and powerful abstractions, unveiling, in so doing, her admiration for American painter Milton Avery.
Opting for open-ended, even blurred, narration, Marine Wallon concentrates on the momentum of her canvases, either with a dash of bright colour that plays with complementary tones, or by means of a little character who emerges from a textured, almost sculptural, shape. "More than any other medium, painting allows for this kind of surprise and emergence, sweeping everything else away!"
Marie Maertens, article in "Connaissance des Arts", March 2023
Translate by Jill Henry, 2023
