Françoise Duvivier is an artist living in France, working in a variety of mixed media, including collage (digital and traditional), doll art and masks. Her artwork has appeared in exhibitions, in books and on CDs and record covers internationally.
Françoise’s collages are assembled from layers of paper, photocopies, and fragments recovered from newspapers. Tears are made by hand—no sharp edges—and sometimes ink is added to the composition to erase obvious connections and provide a cohesive finish to the work. Her latest field of investigation is doll art, which she has come to after a period of working in mask-making.
Artist’s Statement
In a controlled and supposedly normal world, it is impossible to live without making big concessions in order to survive, one day to die “empty”. As an artist, I want to express this smothering and to parody it in all its paroxysm through my artwork. It is a direct language which speaks deeply about our primitive agitation.
We hear, we feel, we see, before undergoing the education in the codes of the good, normal, citizen.
I express what is left out, and what does not fit in this world, and I express it with— and through—feelings and emotions. I don’t want to regulate my art - I want it to escape from me with a furious shout of “NO!”
This “NO” should be our first word in this life.
Life could be marvellous and strong, but we made it ugly and conventional - what we live is not the “true life”.
I try to (re)live, to (re)feel through my visual world. For most people, the visual world I create can appear cruel, insane, pessimistic, but for me it is used to discharge my emotions. I believe that one “chokes” in this so-called “normal-life”.
A well made world for a well made life - or vice-versa.
It is always marvellous for me to meet other like-minded artists, to see any artwork that dares to shout.
My artwork has been used on CDs and record covers for musicians in genres such as techno, experimental/alternative, and heavy metal, and recently I worked with science fiction writer Mariano Equizzi for his film AgentZ.
Exhibitions in galleries and salons don’t really interest me - I prefer to work with others, to share emotions. I treat galleries as a recreation - a means of taking stock, to enable me to view my work from a distance.
In the same way I do not have a “country”, and I regard myself as being a multi-field and international artist.
Everything is an experiment in this life, and I think that through new technology, particularly the internet, we can live “the emotion disfigured” towards “a static and dangerous bureaucracy.”
It is easier for me to express myself through virtual networks and to feel another world here, another language, where sensitivity and emotions can be expressed.
I have been inspired by several artists, mainly those of the Dadaist and Expressionist movements, as well as others such as Arnulf Rainer, some performers, and the Butoh, too.
“We were the dark incarnation of the anger and the laughter of the Earth gods and the defiance of the irrational feelings that have been rudely abandoned and suppressed admidst the swift rationalizations and standardizations of all aspects of life… And especially those aspects of life accompanied by post-war, economic development and urbanization.” — Hijikata
I am also interested in shamanism, but not in a “new-age” or “politically-correct” way of thinking.
“Un univers parfaitement inquiétant et tout aussi parfaitement maîtrisé. Une visite qui donne corps de façon équivoque mais néanmoins concrète aux peurs et angoisses transmises de génération en génération. La mort, l'inconnu, la douleur, la folie, les rites, le sang, les espèces cachées, disparues, le tout mixé en un kaleïdoscope visuel à la puissance rare et dérangeante qui ne sombre jamais dans le grand guignol. Poupées, masques, collages réveillent à chaque fois une part plus ou moins bien enfouie au plus profond de chacun; le mérite de Françoise Duvivier est de nous le rappeler sans le moindre détour.” — Art Hunter - REAL ART