Featured Artist
Jacqueline Poitevin

Jacqueline Poitevin was born in the Autumn of 1948, on a farm where there was a watermill, in the area of the “Châteaux de la Loire”. She grew up in an environment of fields and meadows near a river called “Indrois”. She spends a lot of time drawing and painting on any kind of support found in her environment. From 1960 to 1968, she was a student in a boarding school where she stayed until her bachelor’s degree. During this period her universe narrowed she wrote and drew on her squared notebook sheets.

In 1969 Jacqueline arrived in Paris. She was not active in her artistic activities but she enjoyed visiting Paris museums. The attic apartment where she lived was so uncomfortable and so small, but she dreamed that the world belongs to her. The days were hard, the years passed with various changes. Fortunately, Jacqueline had the opportunity to travel to Spain, Italy, Canada, Peru, the USA, Colombia, Beijing, Tunisia, and Egypt. From 1998 to 2000, Jacqueline was in Colombia with a teaching job. In 2000, she came back to France for a short period, where she struggled to find her place. In 2002, she returned to Colombia. During this period, Jacqueline decided to support some Afro-descendant and indigenous communities in a conflict zone, more precisely in Chocó.

She discovered again a luxuriant and exuberant nature in the hearth of the primary forests, specifically near the Atrato banks, a river with an exceptional width. Colombian people are very cheerful and welcoming. During this period, Jacqueline feels very comfortable and enjoys the richness of the environment. On her return, she recounted her experiences with these communities in a booklet “Anecdotas y algo más” and its adaptation in French. Unfortunately, the booklet has never been published. Today, she is preparing a documentary “20 years later” to find out what has happened to these communities since her return. Jacqueline was in Colombia until the end of 2005. She has been forced to return to Paris following a bad relapse.

This particular period allowed her to reflect on the quality of her life and to imagine new projects, but it would take time before these projects become real. From 2007 to 2010, she worked with child victims of abuse. Later, already retired, she studied perspective drawing and interior design, then abstract painting in a studio where she painted on large-format canvases set up on the floor. It was a discovery that gave her intense pleasure. Finally, it will be a crucial step for her to agree to share her artistic universe by showing her work and to separate from it and let it go to another place. In October and November 2022, she participated in two group exhibitions in “Le Marais” in Paris. In February and March 2023, Jacqueline was a part of four group exhibitions including two in Milan and two in Paris. Jacqueline is member of “La Maison des artistes” (41916).

My universe, nourished by the richness of my experiences, is a nature mix-up in which the human tries to find his place. I start with stapling the canvas on the wooden frame, then coating it with “geso”, spreading the acrylic paint more or less added with medium and water, using brushes, spatulas, and sometimes also with my hands. A colorful palette, the colors bumping into each other, taming each other, finally brushing against each other to commune with sensuality, and reach a mystical, even spiritual dimension. With humility and passion, my feelings spread on the canvas in search of a certain harmony and serenity. Abstraction has been a revelation which has opened up a large possibility of expression of myself. The result always surprises me and, many times, after the spontaneity of the work, without a really precise objective, I make almost figurative discoveries.

more. www.jacquelinepoitevin.com