Sophie Bastien

Sophie Bastien was born in Dijon (between Lyon and Paris). She lives and works in Dijon.

When I was a baby, my mother painted on silk, and she put her colors in my empty baby food jars. I was fascinated by colors and food. Later I took classes in drawing, and I discovered painting at the School of Fine Arts. At first I painted still-lives in a very academic manner until I tried to paint a portrait of a friend.
Instinctively, I painted the face with multiple strokes of different colors; I couldn’t make a smooth, emotionless face. This became my signature style. Later on, I started studying graphic design, where I learnt the importance of empty space, of leaving things blank. Since January 2009, there has been a lot of blank space in my paintings, I needed to breathe, and so did my paintings.