Ascension, 2025

Valérie Besançon  

I do not reproduce nature, I interpret its energy, light, and movement.

Inspired and deeply moved by the spectacle of nature, I reinterpret it, give it body and movement with a joy that is always renewed. Originally from Dijon, I currently spend my time between Vincennes and La Rochelle. Coming from a family of artists, I grew up in a universe where music and visual arts nourished my sensitive view of the world very early on.

For over twenty years, oil painting has been my preferred mode of expression. Nature is the essential source of inspiration for it: a particular light, the texture of a material, a landscape or even a photograph taken during a walk become the starting point for a pictorial search. My work first exploited the universe of trees, before opening up to the great natural elements: water, air, ice, fire, and the cosmos. Today, I return to trees and bark, fascinated by their reliefs, their cracks, and their infinite variations of color, which offer a field of exploration situated between figuration and abstraction.. My encounter with the contemporary painter Pierre-Yves Gianini marked an important step in my artistic journey. His influence led me towards a freer, more luminous painting, where movement and the intensity of colors occupy a central place. Through my works, I seek to reveal the discreet poetry of the living and to share the emotion that nature evokes when one takes the time to observe it. My approach is nourished by observation, experimentation, and imagination. Each canvas is born from an emotion and a desire to translate not the appearance of things, but their energy, their breath, and their inner vibration.

Movement is at the heart of my research.

I like to suggest what circulates, evolves, and transforms: the shimmering of water, the sigh of the wind, the trace of time or the diffusion of light. Color also plays a fundamental role in my expression. Blue, to which I am particularly attached, evokes for me dream, escape, and serenity. Around it, a luminous and vibrant palette is organized that accompanies each composition. My creative process leaves a wide space for intuition. I let myself be guided by what emerges on the canvas, welcoming unexpected transformations, happy accidents, and spontaneous balances. Between figuration, abstraction, and imagination, my painting is constructed in a constant dialogue with matter, light, and emotion. My ambition is to create works bearing life, movement, and poetry, inviting everyone to take a renewed look at the living world around us.