Manon Steyaert is an Artist of French origin, currently living and working in London; a graduate of Central St Martins (UAL), she has recently completed MA Fine Art at Chelsea College of Arts. Steyaert’s rapidly developing practice deals with the deconstruction of the language of painting: bringing painting off the wall, and off the stretcher. Recent projects include solo exhibitions ‘Becoming Habits’ at Studi0 Gallery (St Moritz), ‘Noticing Colour’ at Annika Nuttall Gallery (Denmark), and a residency with PADA Studios, Portugal in 2020.

Instagram: @manonsteyaertart

Over the past two years, Steyaert has created a new body of work to investigate methods of layering colour and light, manipulation of unusual materials, and the possibilities of animating the painted surface with physical movement. Mixing and pouring silicon, and contrasting this with a host of conventional and unconventional painting materials, Steyaert creates her own hues and surfaces to wrap around canvas stretchers or freestanding structures, blurring the boundaries between painting and sculpture. The viewer’s gaze is trapped within these richly pigmented and reflective surfaces, in an aesthetic dialogue both physical and emotional.

Through a subtle poetry of colour, Manon Steyaert articulates the aspirations and appetites of our eyes and minds.

Where would you like your work to take you?

I would like my work to take me to constant state of curiosity, to be in a never ending gaze. I sometimes find it hard to see what some viewers see in my work as I am constantly much closer to them than they are, as a maker of the work I think it is integral to have curiosity of one’s own work. I am naturally a very curious person and wouldn’t know how to keep going if I wasn’t still curious in my own work, I really enjoy conveying/portraying something that people think they know to actually confuse them and change their own perceptions. 

Which part of your creative process do you enjoy most?

The creative process as a whole is very important to me, I love materials and seeing how I can push them to be used in none traditional ways, to take them away from their classical labels and connotations. The draping process of the silicone onto the wooden canvas frame is definitely my favourite part, I used to want to be in fashion when I was younger and loved all the various materials and I definitely took this affinity with me into my art practice. Draping can be the most frustrating part as well, as I pour the silicone myself getting the right thickness can sometimes be tricky and therefore affects the draping, it can be a real push and pull dynamic between me and the work, essence of a power play between me being able to control the silicone to fold the way I want it to and then it also being unpredictable.  

Where do you draw inspiration from?

Is it cliché to say pretty much everything? In all honesty I draw inspiration from things that make me curious, alter my gaze in a way that pushes me to inspect it further, whether it be a colour combination or a beautiful sky. I have done quite a bit of research into perceptions and the idea of one’s gaze, especially a viewers and their power upon the work and vice versa. I look to communicate what I see and what I am attracted to, colours and materials fascinate me and I want to present them in a medium that is both painting and sculpture, creating a work in limbo between the two, allowing the mind to wonder as to where it belongs. Inspiration can come from anywhere but deep down its just what grabs your attention the most.

What piece of music would you say compliments your work the most?

I really would not be able to tell you this, I listen to such vast amount of music in my studio that I do not believe that one has stuck to a particular piece. I am also one of those people that replays new music a lot, so one day can be the same three songs another be very different. I have been asked this question before, I love the idea music my thought process when I work but unfortunately do not think that it does, I think it definitely can play a part in gestural painting though. 

Can you list a couple other creatives/friends/people you look to for inspiration?

A huge inspiration of mine is Anne Truitt, I loved reading her book: “The Daybook”, it really opened my eyes to how I fit as a person with my practice as I felt a bit lost at the start and couldn’t see the personal touches in my work or its connectivity to me personally. 

Over the years in London I have come to meet some seriously amazing people who just opened my eyes to what it is to be a person in today’s society and an artist, I met some wonderful people during my Masters in Fine Art at Chelsea College of Arts, especially Rosie Dahlstrom (@comfort_me_with_apples)who helped me see a connection between myself and my practice, she is a fascinating artist and a brilliant writer. Hector Campbell (@campbell.hector) introduced me to the thriving art scene in London, his knowledge of exhibitions and emerging artists is incredible, Ocki Maghill the founder of Blue Shop Cottage (@blueshopcottage) is very much an inspiration, she defies what people think of galleries and her warmth as a person makes an incredible space to discover mid and emerging career artists. I would also like to thank my best mate Sophie Castle (@sophierosecastle) an incredible painter that has shown such progression as an artist since our time together at Central Saint Martins, her exploration into the female nude is fascinating.