Anne-Kristin Vaudour

Anne’s pop surrealist figurative painting focuses on fantasy worlds and imaginary creatures. Her background in fashion & costume design and children book illustration, combined with her love for the old masters, fairy tales and Chinese tradition result in a blend of classic storytelling, fashion magazine advertising and Surrealism. Her goal is to provoke the viewer to see beyond our conventional perception of reality. In her world, she provides infinite variations of the plausible and multiple facets of experience. 

 

 

What Inspires You?

My inspiration covers a range of extremes from the most beautiful to the ugliest things. I love beauty but at the same time I am intrigued by the strange and bizarre. I like to work with stark contrasts and contradicting themes, which I try to harmonise in my artwork. My artwork is mainly inspired by my dreams and my life but also fairy tales, fashion, exotic cultures, science fiction and the old masters.

My art is an attempt to express my inner universe and make it visible.

Why Do You Make This Type of Art?

It is an interpretation of my private reality. As a child I used to have a lot of nightmares. I am very conscious of my environment and everything made an impression on me. At night my brain twisted all that input and created the strangest ideas. That usually left me with a very peculiar yet strong feeling.
I am still dreaming a lot and it’s a sequence of very realistic images, which I often remember a long time afterwards. My art is an attempt to express my inner universe and make it visible.

How Do You Make It?

I love to work with oil color as you can spend endless time on little details and blending. But I am also a bit impatient. That’s why nowadays I am mainly working with a digital illustration technique, which allows me to quickly get my constantly emerging ideas out of my mind. It still takes a lot of time for me to produce an artwork as I love to indulge in small details. That said, I intend to get back to oil painting one day as it is a very meditative process and the medium of the old masters.

How do you intend to cultivate a collector base?

While producing premium quality artwork, I also spend some time on brand building and exposing my artwork to potential collectors. Participating in first class art shows is one way to do that. Within the short time that I have been an artist, my artwork has been shown at the Asia Contemporary Art Show, The Venice Biennale, The London Contemporary International Art Fair and I will be part of Le French May in Hong Kong this year. Regrettably good art isn’t enough to convince collectors to buy your artwork. One needs a solid background of artistic exposure to build credibility.

What Does Your Artwork Represent?

It is pure fantasy and fiction. My goal is to provoke the viewer to see beyond our conventional perception of reality. Not as a statement but rather as entertainment, the way everyone loves a good story.

What Does Your Art Mean to You?

It is the soul of my life. It’s a way to communicate my deepest thoughts and feelings that would be lost if I don’t memorise them in my artwork.

Are there any difficulties you encounter in the process ?

When you decide to change your life and start producing art for a living, you have to have a lot of confidence that some day someone will come and look for your art.
However, I am very encouraged by the positive response that my artwork evokes. It takes a lot of courage and determination to make it in the art world. You create something on your own that nobody asked for initially. Only if you stick to it and continue to believe, you have a chance to make this beautiful job a career.

Could you describe your style in 5 words?

Decorative, challenging, bizarre, surrealistic, oneiric

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