about
Christelle Dubois comes from an established Oléronnaise family, the granddaughter of an island fisherman and oyster farmer. She has always seen Oléron as a refuge, a passion, a glittering treasure trove.
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Over the centuries, the Oleronnais have tried to tame the island, to protect it, to divide it and to control it. Yet it has remained raw, bewitching, bathed in a kaleidoscope of colours both soothing and luminous.
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Seen from the air, the island is a masterpiece of spontaneous art, crafted by a giant.
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The natural colours of earth, rock, sand and sea form pleasing patterns, some man-made and speaking of centuries of hard work, others emerging unmanaged and unaided from nature.
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The magic, the colours and the harmony come together to form a unique architectural, sculptural and savage natural collage: the geometric man-made patterns of canals, oyster beds, feeding ponds and fish locks live in harmony with the random coastline, the meandering streams and the enclosing, stormy sea.
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“The earth vibrates, the colours dance, and the surface undulates.”
One grandfather was a fisherman, the other a tailor. From her tailor grandfather Christelle Dubois learned to craft and create, to put together and take apart, to assemble colours and shapes, and above all to control and shape the pattern of her life.
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In 2022, I published a book about my work and I asked a poet and a photographer to illustrate it. This book is entitled « Les nuits d’amour sont bleues ». M. Bestaven ( Winner of The 2020/2021 Vendée Globe) and M. Blemon (film director) wrote its preface.
To create my paintings, I use an ancestral technique that leads us into a graphic, artistic, almost musical interpretation of the world around us, blending the infinite with the infinitely small, awakening our senses, inviting us to share the rhythm and beauty of nature.
The dots which fill my canvas, arranged with varied intensity, and either scattered or aligned, show the magic and melody of my country.
In my paintings, I want the movement of the swell, the mineral shades and the graphic rhythm of my land.
The earth vibrates, the colours dance, and the surface undulates."
Christelle Dubois
Painter