Searching inspiration for new techniques to show that Time -as it passes- transforms, shapes and alters everything but is also a vector of Beauty in itself – I needed more than base and colour.
I started to look at Metal as a Living medium, its structure, its colours and the way it evolves over Time.
And, as I wanted to understand its ‘blooming cycle’ (oxidation) from the very beginning to the outbreak of the process, I started my creative search to extract life’s positive charge out of this corrosive reaction. A victory through Art over the passage of Time.
Time weaves Things and I use Time to weave my work – as I guide, tame the metal sheets until I get a vivid, rich, and perplex finish, full of subtle nuances. I make Time, I dismantle Time. Time surprises me, and sometimes it delights me.
Now, let’s imagine that Metal has become too cold and you want to abandon yourself to the warmth of more vibrant, deeper colours. This desire is now stronger in me than the nagging feeling of Time passing by and therefore after my creative work on Metal, I must come back for a while to my other passion: acrylic, which I work with knives.
This makes me hungry for more, makes me crave for something new, something different and forces me to be assertive and to fine-tune my work.
Curiosity is the catalyst which always pushes me towards new techniques, allowing me to be more spontaneous and triggering new emotions. The dynamic of the knife is the essence of my creations. I had already explored this technique in the past but not in enough depth. I had that yearning, so deep and so vivid, to make a point on my ability to tame my painting.
A night of great personal questioning triggered the need to return to it. And, Lara Croft, a fiction character and a feminine archetype, emerged and slipped into my painting.
The result was promising, and I decided to carry on and to pursue my creative journey through this technique. Since, I have had very enthusiastic responses from the public encouraging me to carry on.
When it comes to colours, I follow my instincts, and my characters come to life through the smallest details, a look on one’s eye, a detail in the movement or an expression.
The colourful language of my painting is an expression of my energy and passion. I love Art, Poetry, Music, Faces, Nature.
Inspiration comes to me through the characters I am painting, their personality and idiosyncrasies, which live in me before coming to life on my canvas.
I prefer oversized work as I feel I can express emotions with greater precision, like the details in one’s face. And when the alchemical process of transformation happens, the drawing comes to life.
Perfection eventually arises from the emphasized imperfection of the details. My painting belongs to me but only exists through the look one has on it; each piece of work is a physical exercise.
I am not a portraitist. I just try to instil life to faces and to be in harmony with myself. That gives me the Desire to work and to perfect my work.
For a little while now, I have had a growing interest for animals; cats and dogs have come to tease my canvas. This is a different world which I am domesticating over Time, tenderly and warm-heartedly.
Recently, still enthused with desires and inspiration, I decided to create ‘JEP Style’ and to print my works on premium quality silk. The ‘JEP Style’ collection is now offering beautiful and unique scarves which are exclusively made in France.
Pierre JEUNET
Lives & works
in Albertville, France
Member of the Maison des Artistes &
Maison Art Plastiques Rhone-Alpes
