Liliane Bordes
signature
Painter, plastic artist
Artistic approach
Presence ...
I do not paint forms, but rather the space in which they exist.
To make the silence of a subject in its pure presence visible.
To establish a bridge between the visible and the invisible, to attempt to create a felt sense of the quality of the space in which the subject unfolds.
It was during my teenage years that I was profoundly struck by the great
Chinese paintings from the Song and Ming dynasties and Japanese sumi-e painting.
Beyond figuration, these characters immersed in space, these landscapes full of emptiness but fully inhabited by the unseen and timeless, intensely resonate within me.
The object of my quest is this silent presence that I found long ago in Vermeer and Turner, in modern painters such as Hopper, Rothko, and presently in Alexandre Holan, Serge Sauniere, Sam Lock, among others.
This is where painting is not the subject of painting. The technique is used for the state of consciousness that generates the painting in the viewer, for the quality of energy that it releases, strength and softness at the same time, delicate joy which palpitates...
Like a perfume diffuser, my paintings seek to lead one’s vision towards contemplation, interiority, perception of a simple but subtle reality, beyond sensitive form.
The infinite in the finite, the formless in the form.
Biography
Baccalaureate in Literature, Fine Arts and Art History then on
to the ENSAAMA School of Art and Design, Olivier de Serres
with a degree in textile design.
Textile designer for 7 years.
Orientational change to train in the field of window display design for major brand ready-to-wear stores and other brands. This profession enabled me to come back to painting by
improvising large painted decorations in store window backdrops.
Return to the academic world with courses in drawing and painting.
Discovery of mural painting and training with an experienced artist.
From 2001 onwards, muralist painter - mainly for urban contractors, building companies and private contracts.
In my spare time, I let personal inspiration guide my painting.
I gave up muralist painting in 2016, refocusing my energy on the development of
personal pictorial work.
A Critique of Francine BUNEL-MALRAS, Art Historian
A critique of Francine BUNEL-MALRAS, Art Historian
A graduate of the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Appliqués, Liliane Bordes established her studio in Saint-Pierre-d’Autils in 2010. Strengthened by a first experience as a window dresser and decorator, which gave her the opportunity to paint scenery, she went on to become a fresco and mural painter to decorate cityscapes and water towers. However in 2016 she chose to devote herself exclusively to her passion for canvas painting, without sacrificing her love of large formats; she readily lends her talents to the creation of theatre posters. Since 1999, she has organised several solo exhibitions and participated in numerous shows and exhibitions in France and, more recently, abroad (2019 Peking - early 2020 Cologne). These have allowed her to showcase her original style and have earned her recognition in the form of awards, which include First Prize in the 43rd show of Saint-Aubin-lès-Elbeuf in 2019.
A lover of Chinese and Japanese art forms since her teens, Liliane Bordes draws inspiration from their stark style to transcend her subjects, and even to render them timeless by drastically reducing the representation of space that they occupy. The artist explains her creative principles in these terms: “That which is invisible and timeless finds great resonance with me. The quiet presence that I once felt contemplating a Vermeer, Turner or modern painting by Hopper or Rothko for example, and which I now see in the contemporary work of Alexandre Hollan, Serge Saunière, Christelle Labourgade and others, forms the basis of my research.” Her ‘still-life’ paintings with their minimalist shapes are skilfully sketched in harmonious and balanced compositions. Their backgrounds tend towards abstraction and include plays on light, shadows, chiaroscuro, and at times small complementary figurative elements. By linking a subject to a setting that is void of the least superfluous detail, Liliane Bordes invites us into a revisited and tangible world, evoking a feeling of calmness that invites contemplation, even meditation.
“Establishing a bridge between that which is visible and invisible” is the artist’s aim. Her acrylic technique is perfectly honed, and the complementary use of either soft or hard pastels adds to the paintings’ overall softness. The varied palette of colours highlights a dominant hue in each artwork, which contributes to the serenity emanating from the creation and adds to its simplicity, subtle charm, appeal and poeticism.
In a subtle and studied minimalist style, Liliane Bordes’ pictorial world illustrates a pursuit for absolute purity in our surroundings, free from all artifice. It is original artwork that invites us on a quest for spirituality.