Stéphanie Durand-Lelong

Established in Vaugines-Lourmarin in Luberon and Menton, Stéphanie Durand-Lelong develops a pictorial project: that of the women-cicadas. Always creative and oriented on the plastic arts, from 1994 to 2010, she turned to the craft industry which allowed her to deepen during these 16 years the basic techniques of pictorial representation: perspective, trompe- the eye, fresco work, apprehension of colors. His years at ATEC (2009-2011), a painting restoration school in Chateaurenard, enabled him to deepen in particular the techniques of oil painting of the 18th century as a copyist and his knowledge of the history of the art. This journey culminated in the Women-Cicadas project: this set of oil paintings is inspired by the women of her village, joyful, dynamic and united, but also, more deeply in filigree, by a female model that she has been forged over the years: free, bright and active. These women with elegant silhouettes have the finesse of an insect and the suppleness of lianas, but are not precisely identified. Beautiful in their movements and determined, they inspire him to use these faceless geometric figures to leave room for their expressions, emotions and always placed in situation. Her knives deposit her oils in thick layers, then stretched with energy, they give strength to these feminine silhouettes vibrant with life. All these characteristics make representations very stimulating for the imagination of the observer who finds in the canvas a space for his own interiority.