GET TO KNOW AGATHE BOUTON

Q: WHAT IS YOUR FIRST MEMORY OF CREATING ART OR BEING AN ARTIST?

A: I grew up in an artistic family – my father is a painter and sculptor, and my mother worked in textile design. So I was exposed to the world of art at a very early age, playing in my dad’s studio and making my own little artwork with some of his materials, then later I had the privilege to share a corner of his studio while I was in art school.

I did my very first major artwork when I was a student in art school in Paris, France. I still have it, it’s a big acrylic painting on a big commercial poster that I found in the streets of Paris that I recycled to paint on it.

Q: CAN YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MODERN APPROACH TO PRINTMAKING?

A: I studied traditional printmaking and all its techniques, forms, and skills, but I quite quickly left the tradition behind to find my own ways of using the approach. I like to say that I use printmaking with the approach of a painter, and for me engraving is a form of expression, halfway between painting and printing. My prints are all unique, and like a painter I have series of work in different styles, colors, subjects, each with their own identity.

In engraving I can explore the plate and its multiple potential variations both chromatic and graphic, in doing this I mix traditional techniques with a more contemporary approach. I work mostly with monotypes at the moment, it gives me an immediate result without having all the work you usually do with engraving plates etc. I really love experimenting.

Q: HOW DOES YOUR BACKGROUND IN TEXTILE DESIGN COME ACROSS IN YOUR WORK?

A: I have a degree in textile design and I worked in the textile industry for the first 10 years of my professional career. Later on, when I became a full-time artist, my love for textiles naturally changed to a more artistic approach. As I have traveled around the world, and lived in different countries, I have taken inspiration from the different cultures and people often expressed through their textiles. Sometimes my art is a mixture of craftmanship and I like to mix different mediums together to achieve a true and unique piece of art – so that has also included sewing and including textiles in my work.

Q: WHAT INSPIRES YOUR WORKS? ARE THERE SPECIFIC COLORS, PLACES, EXPERIENCES, ETC. THAT YOU DRAW INSPIRATION FROM?

A: My travels were and are a great source of inspiration. I like to be inspired by the place where I live and in each of my series, I like to tell a story. I interpret and interact with the world around me through a well-honed visual language that incorporates all the continents, histories, and cultures I’ve experienced.