The Origins of an Inner Landscape
Claire Duplouy’s artistic universe is shaped by a deeply intuitive relationship with emotion, color, and lived experience, forming a practice where feeling precedes form. Born in 1992 and now living and working in Toulouse, she constructs images that arise first as sensations rather than concepts. Her paintings begin with an inner impulse, a fleeting desire for hues and atmospheres that appear almost instinctively. Only later, once the work exists, does a narrative reveal itself. These emerging stories are never imposed; they surface naturally, reflecting moments lived, memories retained, and fragments of the world that have left a lasting impression on her. Painting, for Duplouy, is not an act of illustration but a process of allowing emotional truths to take visual shape.
Her upbringing in the South of France plays a vital role in this sensitivity to atmosphere. The region’s distinctive light, particularly the skies tinted with orange and pink at dusk, instilled in her a lasting attachment to warmth and chromatic intensity. This environment fostered a visual memory that continues to nourish her work today. The warmth she experienced growing up translates into compositions that radiate heat, density, and closeness, creating spaces that feel both expansive and protective. These early impressions are not reproduced literally but transformed into emotional climates that permeate her paintings, anchoring them in a specific yet universal sense of place.
This connection between inner life and external environment has become increasingly pronounced in her recent series, which centers on the notion of fire as a sustaining force. Fire, in her work, symbolizes both passion and continuity, the energy that fuels her desire to paint. It appears through glowing palettes and vibrant rhythms rather than explicit imagery. This approach underscores her commitment to painting as a lived experience, where each work serves as a trace of passage, a moment suspended between memory and imagination. Through this lens, Duplouy’s practice positions painting as a space of emotional refuge, shaped by personal history and sensory recall.
Claire Duplouy: Education, Experimentation, and the Path Back to Painting
Claire Duplouy’s journey toward painting was neither linear nor confined to a single discipline. Drawn early to the artistic world, she left her native Lot to attend the Lycée d’Arts Graphiques in Aurillac, where she began forming her own visual language. This initial immersion laid the groundwork for a broader exploration of artistic media, which she pursued at the Beaux-Arts de Bourges. There, her curiosity led her beyond traditional painting into photography, video, and sound installation. Each medium expanded her understanding of image-making and perception, enriching her sensitivity to rhythm, sequence, and atmosphere.
Her attraction to the poetry of images and sound naturally guided her toward cinema, prompting her to enter the École Nationale Supérieure d’Audiovisuel in Toulouse. During this period, her universe took on a dreamlike and fantastic dimension, culminating in the creation of two short fiction films. Film offered her a way to think about time, movement, and emotional pacing, elements that would later resurface in her painted work. After completing her Master’s degree, she moved to Paris, where she eventually returned to painting with renewed clarity. This return was not a rejection of her previous experiences but a synthesis of them.
Watercolor emerged as the medium through which she found a lasting sense of alignment. For the past seven years, it has become central to her practice, offering immediacy and responsiveness that mirror her emotional approach. The fluid nature of watercolor allows her to work in the moment, capturing sensations before they solidify into thought. Today, her style is defined by poetry, nature, and a deep affection for those around her. These themes animate her paintings, giving them an intimate tone that resonates beyond personal narrative. Her exhibitions in Paris and Venice, along with an upcoming presentation in Toulouse, mark the growing reach of a practice rooted in sincerity and exploration.
Influences, Nature, and the Construction of Imagined Places
The visual language Claire Duplouy employs is informed by a dialogue with art history and personal experience, particularly movements that blur boundaries between fine art and decorative expression. She draws inspiration from the Nabis, Post-Impressionism, and Impressionism, appreciating their approach to color, surface, and emotional suggestion. This lineage is evident in her attention to pattern and repetition, as well as her interest in creating spaces that feel immersive rather than descriptive. Among individual figures, Séraphine stands out as a profound influence, admired for her intense connection to nature and the spiritual force present in her work.
Contemporary painters also play an important role in shaping Duplouy’s perspective. Artists such as Claire Tabouret and Ines Longevial represent for her a generation of women who have asserted distinctive visual identities and achieved recognition beyond national borders. Their trajectories encourage her to envision possibilities that extend past France, reinforcing her ambition while affirming the value of a singular voice. These influences do not result in imitation; instead, they offer points of resonance that support her own evolving language.
Nature remains the central axis around which her imagery revolves. Her paintings suggest islands, forests, jungles, and vast mountainous forms, environments where one might wander and lose orientation. These places are not mapped territories but emotional constructions, built through layers of color and rhythmic brush marks. Fine touches of pigment act as signals of presence, highlighting the spirit of imagined locations. The viewer is invited to enter these landscapes slowly, navigating a multitude of points, lines, and tones. Through this accumulation, Duplouy creates worlds that hold attention through their density, offering a contemplative experience grounded in sensation rather than spectacle.
Claire Duplouy: Time, Process, and the Meaning of “Heat”
Claire Duplouy’s working rhythm reflects a thoughtful balance between action and pause. She spends only part of the week in her studio, intentionally leaving space between sessions for a more internal form of creation. These intervals allow ideas and emotions to mature before they are translated into paint. Earlier in her career, she worked continuously without a defined objective, driven by urgency. Today, her approach is calmer and more deliberate, guided by intention rather than impulse alone. This shift has brought greater clarity to her practice, enabling each piece to emerge with considered depth.
Among her works, the painting titled Heat occupies a particularly meaningful place. Created shortly after her arrival in Toulouse, it coincided with her rediscovery of a city she cherishes and the acquisition of her own studio. The piece captures her experience of the southern summer, where dense warmth merges with the surrounding forest. Rather than portraying a literal scene, Heat conveys an atmosphere that is both heavy and comforting. It reflects a sensation of enclosure, akin to a cocoon, where intensity and welcome coexist. The work stands as a personal marker of belonging and renewal, encapsulating the emotional core of her practice.
Looking ahead, Duplouy is focused on a major exhibition of her paintings, alongside a fabric print project designed to extend her visual language into an immersive environment. This interest in spatial experience echoes her multidisciplinary background, suggesting new ways for audiences to inhabit her world. Through these projects, she continues to explore how color, material, and rhythm can shape emotional space. Her practice remains anchored in watercolor and sensation, yet open to expansion, maintaining a quiet coherence that invites viewers to slow down and engage with the subtle power of feeling translated into form.
