February 22, 2022
Audio clip and script by Gallery & Curatorial Fellow Mae Blackwell
Transcript
This piece by Cyrille Conan, Bezañ War E Du 2 (in good form), encapsulates many of the artist’s trends and symbols. Each register in the piece illustrates Cyrille’s use of dynamic forms, from the repetition of circles and colors, to the use of razzle dazzle camouflage that has become a central device in Cyrille’s work. Razzle dazzle camouflage was utilized heavily in WWI and less so in WWII. It is a type of ship painting with black and white intersecting lines, very similar, if not identical, to the patterns in most of Cyrille’s work.
How many layered forms can you identify in this piece? How do these forms relate to one another?
When asked about the process of creating a piece, Cyrille explains that he has a list of vocabulary; shapes, patterns and colors that he uses over and over again. For Cyrille, there is no right way to begin or finish a piece, there is no plan ahead of time, rather one decision leads to the next and ultimately he is under the control of his composition. Cyrille describes this process as “playing chess with myself,”and each new element added is a new obstacle. According to Cyrille, “A piece is finished when there’s balance, sometimes an unbalanced look comes from feeling unbalanced and that’s ok.”
Cyrille learned how to draw figuratively at Hartford Art School, he focused mostly on landscapes and portraits and it was not until 2012 that Cyrille made the first abstract piece of art he was pleased with. Before then, he had always felt that abstract art was a cop out. But now he has made that practice his own, and abstraction seems to be a sort of language and reflection for the artist.
When Cyrille is in his studio, he is connecting to both himself and nature. He has a strong aversion to technology, and has always dreaded its increased popularity and significance in our modern world. Making art is a way for him to reject our current condition and use his intuition, which ultimately connects him to a greater force. Cyrille says that “By using my intuition, I become nature.”