Marie Lenclos was born in Paris and came to London to study Graphic Design at Camberwell College of Art in 1995 and has settled in London since.
She paints with oils and says “I love the smells and textures associated with oil paint. They make painting a sensorial experience and I can't quite imagine using anything else as a medium.”
It was her father who introduced her to painting at an early age through observational still lives and self-portraits. Alongside this she worked at his colour design studio where she would spend hours cutting and sticking very precise bits of Pantone card to make into 2D models of streets and cities. It is perhaps no wonder then that the strand of her work she is particularly developing now is urban landscapes and buildings. Based on places she encounters as she walks or cycles around London, some are familiar places such as bridges near her studio in Loughborough Junction. Others come to her suddenly, taking her by surprise.
She was a documentary video maker for around 12 years prior to painting, and this made her conscious of the way she looked at the city around her! Now, she would see something and visualise, ‘there is a painting in this'.
So naturally she uses photographs as a starting point for her painting process. The photos capture a 'moment of seeing’ when the painting idea comes into being. A moment when lines, light, colours and shapes all fall into a particular order.
Marie explains: “The painting itself develops during the drawing stage, when I make marks on the canvas with a biro. Reality is simplified, and perspectives become my own. I then spend a lot of time on the colour, the gradients and the light – working and reworking areas and shapes in relation to each other. Another strand of my work is abstract geometric paintings, which are a pure exploration of colour. And I still holiday in Brittany, where I always paint the same group of tall pine trees from observation.”
We are delighted to be representing Marie Lenclos.