Philippe Sorin

PS1 - France - Born in 1963

PS1 is a French artist with a passion for architecture, wide open spaces and nature.

Red (or rorbuer) houses, trees, mountain ranges or Scandinavian fjords make up his paintings. PS1 uses mixed techniques combining acrylic paint and collage to represent his vision of the expanses of the Far North: the Lofoten Islands, Bergen, Bohuslän, Alesund, Trondheim...

His works question human activity: how does man shape his habitat? What is the impact on his "natural" environment? Each work explores vernacular architecture, specific to a country, a territory and its inhabitants. It is the architecture of the people, using locally available materials and traditional techniques. 

The Rorbuer, widely represented in PS1's works, are wooden fishermen's huts in northern Norway. They are traditionally painted red with white edging on the sides and around the doors and windows. These red houses are built on the rocks of the coastline, especially in the Lofoten Islands, with direct access to the sea to facilitate fishing activity.

These Norwegian Rorbuer represent the trace of Man, which can be found everywhere: a lighthouse on the water to guide man, a station to carry travellers in the middle of the forest, a house in the middle of a fjord in Scandinavia. Even if you think you're lost, you always find a trace of human life.

PS1 is inspired by several artists, such as David Hockney, Edward Hopper, Blaise Drummond, Wayne Thiebault, Beverly Buchanan...