Interview: Denis Delauney
Luca Curci talks with Denis Delauney during MIXING IDENTITIES, the third appointment of CANVAS International Art Fair, at THE LINE Contemporary Art Space.

I’m a French artist, born in Normandy in 1961, now living and working in Bamberg, Germany. My work is distinguished by the overall handling of sculpture, painting and photography.
I DO. The androgynous heads and masks don’t answer any questions of gender – they are only humans, quiet and neutral. Focus on the surface, which seems to be marked by the course of time. These rusty fissures, cracks and grooves are the injuries and scars we are bearing in ourselves. I want to enable you to see and feel them.
I CREATE. With my photographs, I unveil the sculptures in a subtle and emotional way. If outdoors in nature, at the sea, or submerged in water – the viewer is welcome to join the magic journey and to dream along.

Luca Curci – What is art for you?
Denis Delauney – For me, art is freedom. Above all, art is uninfluenced by any trend or people. To be able to express myself in space with sculpture or installations as well as on paper or canvas by means of photography and painting is pure freedom.

LC – How did you come to your current artistic practice?
DD – It was quite a long process with its origins in my childhood. After learning several three-dimensional artistic skills and later painting and drawing I finally developed an increasing desire to focus on serial creations. I developed for example a prototype head shape. The lack of individualism or better said the de-individualization that resulted from this gave me the freedom to fill the gap to a certain extent by using it as a stage or in combination with photography and painting.

LC – What is the greatest challenge in creating your artwork?
DD – The great concentration and patience it demands to me made me change my life and prepare myself for it. By focusing on the important things, such as meditation and mental tranquility, I have achieved this.

LC – Do you use art to express something special?
DD – Of course, otherwise it would be meaningless. A statement is contained in my work from the beginning of the process of creation. Expression is important to me, but it should not pretend anything. In the end, each piece has a peculiarity that may go further than my original thought.

LC – How do you feel when you see the completed work?
DD – It’s a good question, it is difficult to quit when the time is right, but time helps me. I am in communication with my work. It signals to me the point at which it can exist on its own. Taking an open path, to be able to connect again at the next opportunity, possibly in a different form. Creating art means transformation. It doesn’t end.

LC – What do you think of the concept of this festival?
DD – In order to be able to tackle the complex problems and demands of our time, the cooperation of as many creatives as possible, thinking from different perspectives, is a hope that absolutely must be exploited. I believe “mixing identities” is a wonderful way of ensuring exchange and opportunities.