ABOUT
Through simple shapes and colors, Claude Laurent recreates and paints what she feels and the world she observes, as a form of language. She offers us her view of the world and her obsession with the human being, whose actions and ideas she constantly strives to understand. She thus speaks to us of many domains—as varied as life itself: politics, sex, love, humor (sometimes dark!), social issues, everyday life, celebration, poverty. She also explores sometimes unexpected realms: the natural, musical, animal, and poetic worlds… These are the colors of life,
“Colors of Life.” She mainly uses four colors that she sees as the symbolic colors of the world—also the colors of the medicine wheel—and a blue‑green which, for her, is an osmosis between the sky and nature (between emptiness and fullness). The theme of the colors of life is closely linked to that of universalism. The combination of primitive art with scenes from modern life further reinforces the uniqueness of the “scenes” and characters in Claude Laurent’s works: the artist manages to convey a pleasant sense of peacefulness and a certain communion between beings. For Claude Laurent, the “colors of life” will remain the emanation of her fairy‑like universe. Through her works, she expresses the constant sense of wonder she feels toward the world around her. Her accounts are rendered in metaphorical and whimsical form, like so many emblematic anecdotes that invite us to reconsider our everyday lives with humor and irony.
I am a French‑American artist born in Venezuela. This blend of cultures from birth has shaped the course of my work. Through my creations, I explore the world by offering an experience that connects us to one another and to our shared humanity.
“With four symbolic colors, I include all the people of the world”: red, black, yellow, and white. It is important to me to include everyone in my paintings. (These colors are also those of the medicine wheel.) I also use a turquoise blue that represents the sky, and an emerald green for nature; I mix them to obtain a blue‑green for the backgrounds of my canvases and certain other details, creating an osmosis between emptiness and fullness. I paint on all kinds of surfaces. I love creating murals and giving new life to all sorts of objects… After 52 years of painting, my studio has become a real Aladdin’s cave.
I observe scenes of everyday life, which I draw almost every day, focusing mainly on stylized figures. Then I decide whether to turn them into a painting. Or I may work directly on a canvas, telling a story and, without overthinking it, letting my hand draw.
I have always painted and drawn. At the age of 17, from 1972 to 1980, I began academic studies, preparing for my entrance into the École des Beaux‑Arts in Paris. I then received my diploma cum laude and a degree in Fine Arts, as well as writing a thesis on painting on wood.
I have also maintained close relationships with renowned artists such as Man Ray, Salvador Dalí, and Sonia Delaunay… My daily life is made up of drawing, painting, and sports.
My mission, passion, profession, and vocation is to awaken people from a dream we call reality by making them smile. Art connects us; we look at the world differently, we celebrate it. With each brushstroke, I imagine a better world. Beyond my simple forms lies a very real “beyond”: fleeting, singular sensations that are deeply human, a complex and sometimes strange world where vivid colors move quickly, alternate, intersect, and split apart. A gentle serenity emerges, and a certain communion between beings.
Color will always remain the emanation of my enchanted universe.