Le Choix Magazine

ideas glued together

Julien Pacaud

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DECEMBER 2016

Julien Pacaud is a French artist who before becoming an illustrator was dedicated to astrophysics, hypnosis, international pool tournaments and Esperanto lessons.

He also hopes he can someday have enough free time to devote himself to his real passion: time travel. He transforms this set of interest and knowledge in digital illustrations with scenes that mix retro, future, symmetry and geometric shapes.

Meet The illustrator, painter and time traveler Interivew by Caitlin Fitting

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From your bio I take it that you didn’t begin as an artist, can you tell me what initially drew you towards art?

My first approach to art came from my interest for fiction, or at least I think so. I’ve always preferred fiction to the real world. This led me to an interest in cinema as teenager. This is a very “complete” form of art, mixing image, composition, music, sound, and literature.

Cinema was the trigger to the artistic part of my

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mind. Like most kids, I always had the fantasy to create worlds of my own and I art was a way to do it. I studied cinematography, but didn ’t follow the cinema path after that. I needed a more solitary way of creating. I discovered the possibilities of image manipulation with Photoshop in the late 90’s and started experimenting on my own. But I suppose that cinema and TV are the strongest influence on my work.

I see the influence of vintage advertising and geometric shapes in your work, what about these draws your attention?

I generally use vintage imagery from the 1900s to the 1970s. I think I need to work with retro images to have a distance from our contemporary world. I intend to create images that are quite timeless and spaceless; where the viewer cannot really identify when and where the scene is taking place. In my mind, even if I

“There’s something esthetically emotional for me in the contrast of the geometrical shapes of architecture among the ‘wilderness’ of nature”

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use vintage images for my collages, some of my images can very well depict a very distant future.

I have difficulty a apes and why I like to use them in my compositions. Maybe it’s the graphic power they can bring to an image, the balance.

I’m also really interested in the confrontation between the randomness of nature and manmade architecture. There’s something esthetically emotional for me in the contrast of the geometrical shapes of architecture among the “wilderness” of nature, where these shapes are impossible to find. They are signs of an intelligent conscience trying to organize the chaos around.

That’s a bit what I do with collage, organizing the chaos of all these various elements that have no relation to one another.

Pythons’ animations (which are really cool, but I’m not sure that it’s what I would like to do). I suppose there may be some ways to go beyond that, technically speaking, but I don’t have the ability yet. I’m a bit of a control freak, and I like to do everything by myself, so it’s not a, “never” but more like a, “maybe someday”.

“That’s a bit what I do with collage, organizing the chaos of all these various elements that have no relation to one another”

Is there any political or societal commentary in your work?

What do you think of your art, where do you like to see if shown?

Influences come from everywhere, no matter what medium. In arts, among the classics, I’ve always loved Magritte. I’m very fond of the surrealist/Dadaist movement. Also, Storm Thorgerson’s Pink Floyd record covers have influenced me. My parents had these records when I was a child and they were among the first images I saw. I was very intrigued and they made a strong impression on me. Music can also be also inspirational. I’m also influenced by cinema or TV like “The Twilight Zone”, “The Prisoner”, Lynch’s work in general.

I don’t particularly like to see my art; I’m quite critical about it. Anyway, it has not happened to me yet, but it would be nice to meet a stranger, he or she would invite me to their place and unexpectedly I’d see one of my works on their wall.

Your studies of cinematography and the animated nature of your imagery appear to lend itself to motion, have you ever had any interest in that?

I’ve been told that a few times but I guess I would be more interested to make films with a real camera, using flesh and blood real people (even though I would certainly manipulate the images after shooting). I’m afraid that animating my artworks would be like manipulating puppets, i.e. there would be too much limitations of what can be done. It would look like some Monty

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Is there a particular era of imagery you like to use more than others?

Not really. It depends. Maybe I was more attracted to the 50’s or 60’s imagery a few years ago and now it’s more the 20’s and 30’s. The era is not really relevant, and inspiring elements can be found in any of them. I’m currently re-watching the TV show “The Prisoner” and it brings me back to all the greatest of the 60’s.

Not at all. I don’t have the overconfidence to share opinions on politics or society. That’s something I’m generally not keen of, which is art with a “message” because art doesn’t have to be serious.

Are there any artists or pop culture that have influenced you or that you are particularly fond of?

Besides art, what else do you get up to daily?

Controlling the laws of physics on a snooker table, but that’s the most difficult task I have been confronted to, so far! Experimenting the ubiquity by travelling virtually thanks to Google Street View, Hypnotizing groups of people with music.

Everyday life is really not interesting; I don’t think it’s worth being described.

Curator Charles Wilkin has put together a show of collage, All That Remains, at Picture Farm in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The show, presented by Ugly Art Room, the show opened last Friday.

Interivew by Caitlin Fitting What do you think is unique about collage today, if anything?

One of the exciting things about collage is its primary use of discarded paper media which ultimately keeps it in motion, constantly changing like a chameleon. A quick look at the diversity of styles, concepts and technique found in contemporary collage proves it’s moved well beyond simply cut paper and glue.

I suspect many artists find it alluring for not only its immediacy but its unique and inherent nature to reinvent the familiar into something mysteriously new. Collage also has a long history of integrating itself in to political and cultural movements so it seems natural there’s a collage revival happening in these uncertain times. Which is why I believe many contemporary collages artists are focused on bold narratives rooted in some type of analysis, making All That Remains not only relevant now but also for the future. a child and they were among the first images I saw. I was very intrigued and they made a strong impression on me. Music can also be also inspirational.

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None of these images are digitial, correct? Well, what do you think is different about paper collage, compared to digital?

Ninety percent of the show is paper collage done by hand however there are a few artists working digitally. I personally have done both mediums and in my mind they are equal in many respects. The techniques are completely different but the approach is often the same. The challenge of paper collage is working with what you have on hand, the size of the images, the color and texture of the paper. It’s almost like trying to make something out of nothing really, this seems to be the draw for a lot of collage artists in general. Working digitally gives you the ability to manipulate every aspect of the collage, I personally have found working digitally creates too many possibilities. Up until recently there seemed to be a strong division among collage artists on the paper vs. digital topic but lately I’m seeing more and more artists mixing the two, which is great. The blend of both hand work and digital technology seems like a natural evolution of the medium.

Were there any overarching themes you were seeing in the collage work of artists today?

Collage artists have always been fascinated with the idyllically mundane and the scraps of pop culture tossed aside. This seems to be a unifying theme that transcends collage beyond it’s stylistic roots to Dada, Pop Art and Surrealism. However, All That Remains is more than just a survey of contemporary collage but effectively a commentary on modern living, with its 24-hour news cycles and social media.

For me it’s fascinating to see how 25 international artists with completely different perspectives and cultural backgrounds can actually find a mysterious sense of commonality.

Collage artists have the unique ability to transform the familiar, bridging the past with the present, into universal narratives and themes that reveal the things that make us all human. I truly believe this is what makes collage and this exhibition so amazing.

“The challenge of paper collage is working with what you have on hand.

It’s almost like trying to make something

out of nothing ”

Artist of the Month:

Create your own collage!

Inspired by Matthew Cusick’s work create your own collage made by old maps. Cut the maps in shapes of any design you want. To finish, paste them in a white paper.

Share your creation with the world using the hashtag: #collageyou

Matthew Cusick “Maps provided so much potential, so many layers.

I put away my brushes and decided to see where the maps would take me.”

A multimedia artist working in collage, painting, and book art, Matthew Cusick is known for his map collages of intricate, warmly colored portraits and landscapes. “Maps have all the properties of a brushstroke: nuance, density, line, movement, and color,” he says. “Their palette is deliberate and symbolic, acting as a cognitive mechanism to help us internalize the external.” His work has received numerous awards and can be found in many collections around the world.

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Cusick uses atlases for his collages, uniting pieces of the landscape that are actually quite far apart to create his own new world. With scissors and a craft knife, the artist playfully rearranges the fundamental organisation of modern society.

His works are an homage to the unfamiliar, to the past, and to travelling. Reality and fantasy could not be merged any more ingeniously.

Let’s start!

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