Lola Dupre describes herself as a “bearded recluse” who spends most of her time hanging out in the Scottish Highlands, cutting up faces and sticking them back together with PVA glue, is a photograph montage artist, creates incredible collage by cutting images/portraits into pieces and reassembling and reshape the bits to an unique fragemented series of shards.
At first glance, these look like being twisted by photoshop. They are so perfect that it is hard to believe actually they are all made by a pair of hands( and a pair of scissors).
VICELAND TODAY 09/09/2010
How would you describe your work then?My work is about the manipulation of form. I remember as a child in France, my parents took me to a fair where there was a hall of mirrors. I spent hours marvelling at the alluring and sinister metamorphosis of forms. And that’s what I explore in my art: the endless variations you can achieve from an original image. That’s why I sometimes make multiple works from the same image; it’s like producing different offspring from the same DNA.
Did you own a kaleidoscope as a child? Or have you ever smashed a mirror?No but I owned a mirror and smashed a kaleidoscope! No, I see where you’re coming from with that question… My ideas come from a broad range of stimuli. Experience has given me the ability to look at my subject and see a distorted reflection looking back at me; the complexity of the refraction is visible to me from the outset.
Do you ever frighten yourself when you compose one of your distorted faces? (I’m thinking about the Pope Benedict portrait in particular)I never frighten myself; I find my work amusing, and if by chance they end up looking like a crazed paedophile then so be it! I think Pope Benedict is a political figure, and a terrible one. When I do a portrait like that, it’s not hard to see the demented evil behind the subject!
So do you think that when you “reconfigure” a face, you dehumanize it or accentuate its true character?That’s a complex question and depends for the most part on the particular photomontage. Usually I think I accentuate the true character of the subject but present a different version of the same features.
Do you enjoy cutting up people’s faces?Yes, but I try to keep it purely within the confines of the realm of art. Essentially I am a cosmetic surgeon reworking the idea of beauty. My work is certainly a far cry from artists such as Orlan who manipulate the body directly. But I think there’s a connection there, albeit a small one.
Have you done a distorted portrait of an ex, voodoo style?No I would never do that as I have too much respect and feeling for my lovers. And it would belittle everything that I stand for. No, I would never seek revenge through photomontage… not yet anyway!
Do you collaborate?
Yes! Collaboration is a big part of my work. I work mainly with photographers and I’ve published several editorials. I’ll definitely be doing more of that in the future; I’m always looking for ideas and proposals from photographers and other creative professionals. I do it for the opportunity to work with people who are creating fantastic imagery. I see it as a stepping stone to commercial work in the future.
Yes! Collaboration is a big part of my work. I work mainly with photographers and I’ve published several editorials. I’ll definitely be doing more of that in the future; I’m always looking for ideas and proposals from photographers and other creative professionals. I do it for the opportunity to work with people who are creating fantastic imagery. I see it as a stepping stone to commercial work in the future.
What’s inspiring you most in the art world right now?It’s a small answer but, the wonderful people and atmosphere in my current studio, “The Chalet” in Glasgow.
Greetings and thanks for taking time out to talk to us! We’re fascinated by these painstaking works you’ve been creating in your studio there in Scotland. When did you begin as a collage artist, did you attend a university for studio art, and is this a main focus for you in life at this point?
I have always been fascinated with the art of collage. I think this began when I was a child playing obsessively with fuzzy felt. I also spent a long time cutting up my mothers fashion magazines and admiring the framed Hannah Hoch's hanging on the living room wall. I did not attend art school, mainly because I didn’t want to. I studied architecture briefly, which has influenced my work in the sense of how I build up the structure of the images in my work. I had a lot of friends who studied fine art. And even though it was a life building experience for them, actually a lot of them do not even make art anymore - and I think this speaks a lot for the way that institutions can dampen the desire to create.
I spent what would have been my university years traveling in Europe and working in different art studios. This for me was the education that I needed and that has helped me formulate the ideas that my work stems from today.
My work is my main focus, I spend a lot of time in the studio and I happily see it as my 9-5 job.
My work is my main focus, I spend a lot of time in the studio and I happily see it as my 9-5 job.
When you feel like being inspired, where do you go? What refuels your creative or personal energies?
Inspiration is everywhere. Maybe I am lucky in that I do not feel I need to look far for inspiration. For example, in my studio there are other artists of interest to me who inspire me. In the past when I have approached my work with the most joy and inspiration it has been when I have had the opportunity to collaborate on editorial material with photographers such as Madame Peripetie and Kristiina Wilson. I am about to begin new projects with other photographers and this always delights me, as someone else must examine my work and then be inspired to produce work for me. I want to do much more of this. I want to hear from photographers across the world who want to work with me on projects. I also want to begin collaging the work of painters and graphic artists as I recently did with an old painting by Giovanni Francesco. Collaborating with other artists in various mediums is very inspiring, and my main goal for future work. In my personal life, love, anticipation and the joy of new experience fuel my motivation.
There seem to be some imaginative possibilities to your talents and current works. Where do you think you will evolve to, or what do you want to do with your work in the future?
I want to do more illustration, commercial work and advertising. I am happy to sell my work as art, but I see myself more as an illustrator. I want to illustrate books for adults and children, this market and audience is the most interesting I think. To associate your graphic work to creative scripts is a kind of pinnacle. I believe there is a future in what I do, in a way the future is so blurred by political and economic vagaries. It is impossible to speculate the future, but I try! In the future, I simply hope I am still producing work.
I want to do more illustration, commercial work and advertising. I am happy to sell my work as art, but I see myself more as an illustrator. I want to illustrate books for adults and children, this market and audience is the most interesting I think. To associate your graphic work to creative scripts is a kind of pinnacle. I believe there is a future in what I do, in a way the future is so blurred by political and economic vagaries. It is impossible to speculate the future, but I try! In the future, I simply hope I am still producing work.
I find humour to be an important aspect of my work, especially when working with an image that is already very well known. The resulting manipulated image has an almost automatic sense of humour to it.
When I work on an image, the result is almost like a circus freak or a clown’s make-up: a distorted version of reality where the reality is still visible. This creates, in my opinion, either humour or horror. I am happy to express and elicit both, as this is a reflection of the reality of our lives and something we should talk about.
In a world where little is new or original, and the appropriation of imagery is commonplace, Lola Dupre sets herself apart with her arresting, surreal collages. Taking pre-existing imagery from iconic historical and contemporary artists, as well as images of her friends and the people around her, she manipulates and warps familiar canvases to create new, twisted artworks that invoke both memories and new perspectives.
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