Share the moment or experience that first ignited your passion for art.
I painted a mural in my high school that’s still there today. For the project, we had to choose someone who inspired us, and I chose an Amazonian Indigenous person from the Yanomami tribe. Even then, I was fascinated by small Indigenous groups and loved the challenge of capturing their everyday life through my art.
Iit was also fascinating to see
how the mural became part of people’s daily lives. Watching students walk past it every day, interacting with it unconsciously, made me realize the power of art—not just as something to look at, but as something that lives in a space, shapes an environment, and connects people. That shared experience, the way art can integrate into everyday life, is what first made me realize its power.
Describe how your education at Les Arts Plastiques shaped your artistic approach and philosophy.
I have a graduate degree in Art and Ethnology. For my thesis research, I spent time with the Berber communities in Morocco, North Africa. Their approach to life profoundly changed my perspective. They take their time—living, creating, and interacting with each other and with nature. They showed me how to create art on the sand, how to weave rugs from natural fibers, and how to embrace the food nature provides. I realized then that life should be simple.
Their everyday existence was a masterpiece, and I realized that what is different from your own daily life becomes aesthetic and artistic in your eyes. I found their sound to be artistic—a simple mark in the sand, the vibrant colors of their food, the patterns in their dress. Art, for me, was everywhere, it’s just a matter of how you choose to see it.
That perspective shaped my philosophy as an artist. Once something resonates with you, once you recognize its artistic essence, it becomes art. It’s about perception, about paying attention to the world in a way that transforms the ordinary into something meaningful.
How has Chicago’s vibrancy influenced your work compared to your experiences in France?