Fanou Montel

Abstract painting has, for several years now, become the tool of creative liberation for artist Fanou Montel. Sometimes, at the expense of abstraction, it is possible to come across spurts of figurativism here and there, in outbursts of pictorial spontaneity.

From figurativism to abstraction 

Drawing, and then ink shortly after, were the vectors of Fanou Montel's sensitivity as a child and then as a teenager. When painting manifested itself to her, a little later on, it is through figurativism that the artist initially tried to convey her emotions. Nudes, portraits, countless landscapes... Then the touches began to appeared more and more sporadic, abstract. Since then, abstraction is at the heart of her plastic creations.

But as nothing is eternal, some figurative sha pes and motifs began to reveal themselves little by little in her abstract canvases, thus creating a slight dichotomy in her canvases. 

Emotions at the heart of her creative process

At the rather joyful phase that comes with starting a new painting, the brush strokes are swift, purposeful, helping spread the color to all four corners of the canvas, creating a rhythm through the lines, gaps and motifs that emanate from the artist’s brush. 

It’s rare for the artist to fixe a precise image to in her mind to replicate, she prefers to try out all the possibilities at her disposal, leaving space for happy accidents. Fanou Montel lets herself be guided by her emotions, which arise as the structure of each canvas begins to take shape.

She lives for these intense and powerful moments that creation gives her; it is for this reason that the artist paints. Even if doubt and questioning often plague her, they never prevent her from starting over again, and again and again...