Lives in Belgium – Braine-l’Alleud
Website https://www.stephanieherremans.com/
How do you describe your own art practice?
I’m a collagist. When I tell people, they sometimes have a little smile, because for them, this activity is only for children. And when I show them my creations, they tell me “but that’s not collage”. This art is sometimes not taken seriously when it can be declined to infinity, both technically and aesthetically. Like all art, it is the medium of projections. Mine is made of old pieces of paper.
The images I work with are almost always black and white and assume old books that I find or are given to me.
I work in two different ways. Most often, I don’t think, I cut out the images that are available to me and I paste, like automatic writing, once the collage is finished I find out what has been accomplished. But sometimes, I think about a larger project and I research my sources in advance to achieve it.
When I cut out an image, I like to make it lose its original meaning, either by blending it into the composition or by cutting it out so it’s no longer recognizable.
" le sommet"-collage- 2023
10 X 15 cm
Which question or theme is central in your work?
Far from any logic, my creations do not seek to show reality as it is but encourage us to question ourselves, to perceive the hidden side of things and to free our unconscious. I like to work on appearances and movement (like the bodies of disarticulated dancers or birds). Volumes and faces mingle with geometric figures accentuating this effect of movement and mechanism.
Sometimes black and white, sometimes sepia, they randomly complement each other through their dynamics and their movements and submit a specific reflection on the place of the body in space.
"À ciel ouvert" - 2023 - 21 X 30 cm.
Collage et dessin (papier, crayon et encre)
What was your first experience with art?
I am self-taught and did not follow an artistic course. I grew up in a family of artists. In addition, my father and my godfather were painters and students of Paul Delvaux (1897-1994) who taught at the “l’Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Plastiques de La Cambre” in Brussels.
What is your greatest source of inspiration?
To feel my heart racing while discovering the works of other artists, both ancient and contemporary. I know that my collages are imbued with surrealism, cubism and dadaism but any type of art can inspire me.
"Le boit -sans-soif"- collage 2023
12 x 12 cm
What is your greatest source of inspiration?
To feel my heart racing while discovering the works of other artists, both ancient and contemporary. I know that my collages are imbued with surrealism, cubism and dadaism but any type of art can inspire me.
analogcollage, The photograph, 2023
What do you need in order to create your work?
I have to find myself alone in my studio, always in the evening listening to jazz, and have old books at my disposal.
analogcollage, dislocated dancer n° 2, 2021
What work or artist has most recently surprised you?
It’s hard to limit myself to one artist.
Hibiki Miyazaki (usa, http://www.hibikimiyazaki.com) and Stefan zsaitsits (austria, https://www.zsaitsits.com) are nice discoveries I made recently. I was also very touched by the film “Brian and Charles” by Jim Archer.
"Composition 1" - collage- 2023
17 X 22 Cm
