Can you tell us about your artistic approach?  

Everything is not completely defined or definitive. To me, it’s like a trip. I can get ideas and get lost along the way. Switching to the unexpected is what appeals to me. I like to connect with the instinctive since I don’t have any specifications, unlike for makeup. Not responding to an expectation, I can follow my intuition. It is this discovery of myself that drives me. But usually, after researching, I start sketching. Then I add elements. My creations are often a mixture of drawing, ink, watercolor and collage. But nothing is set in stone. I am constantly evolving in my artistic research.

However, the design is essential. If it is bad, the result will not be there. Next comes the ink. The very unpredictable part. Because I use the ink directly on water. It means that on parts of the paper I put water with a brush and then I apply a little of ink, which creates some effects. This part is very technical because water has its own laws. There are good surprises, sometimes bad ones. And when I want more details, I use the ink directly on paper, like for the eyes. I am very attentive to the look. Then I add collage elements, color backgrounds, graphics, patterns that I have pre-cut…. Currently I have an obsession with reflections so I work a lot with shiny, reflective, gold or silver papers. And as I take the photos, I am having fun with the reflections. The result is always a bit magical, like an illusion. I sometimes allow myself some post-creation touch-ups. So when seeing the result, people don’t fully understand the different creative processes. I’m blurring the lines a bit. We live in a world in which we want to understand everything. The mystery is cool too. 

Yes. The rendering is a bit of a dream, almost untouchable. 

Indeed. Nothing is completely fixed. It’s alive in my head, like mirages. And I try to transcribe that to make my images lively, expressive and bright. 

Water is not something that you can easily control, neither is ink. To have tested India ink, it’s complicated. I find you quite incredible precision. 

Thank you so much. But not always. I make several attempts. I have to be very accurate about where I put the water. It’s a matter of technique. It must always be improved. And I venture out. I’m experimenting. 

Do your makeup techniques influence your work? 

Of course. I feel like I work on my illustrations like I work on faces for fashion photos. They all have a story to tell. And this story always begins with a face, a personality. Then I build around the light, its style, its essence. The fact that I then take pictures and allow myself all forms of transformations is a bit like the shootings. So yes, my background influences me greatly. 

As a makeup artist, who do you work for? 

I work for many fashion, cosmetics and magazine brands. And I’ve been working with Pat McGrath for 20 years as well. I do all its shows. So when I’m in Paris, I work for Grandes Maisons such as Louis Vuitton, Chloé … There, I’m leaving for Milan Fashion Week, I’ll be on the Prada or Valentino fashion shows. 

What do you like about this profession? 

I like everything: the research, the teamwork, adapting the makeup on the face, the excitement, the challenge, the adrenaline. Because everything must be perfect for the time of the show. Then the end result, the parade, is nothing but joy and satisfaction. 

Do you have any advice for those who want to get started in creation? 

To Dare, to work, to have a try. This is an opportunity to trust your intuition, your feelings, seek your uniqueness. I understand that at first you can copy to learn. But the goal is to find its style. It is this authenticity that will touch the other. 

It is true. I see artists on Instagram who touch me, not famous people. And this is the aim of Luxus Plus Magazine: to present artists unknown to the general public but who reveal something. This essence that may interest the brands looking for originality and soul. Because usually everyone uses almost the same codes. We must seek those who have a universe. A person’s universe is what makes all the beauty, the richness. 

Absolutely, to be authentic, to find your own way of representing the world. Having an identity that catches the eye. This is what is interesting for brands. 

What does Art represent to you? 

Art is an access to the other, to an elsewhere, to sensitivity. He questions us, provokes us, that’s life. We have always expressed ourselves. Since human was a human, we has had artistic expression, it is not for nothing. Art helps to know oneself. He can transform us and make us evolve. Art is essential.