Focus On Dorothée Louise Recker

Dorothée Louise Recker has move for the summer in the South of France, not far from Cannes. Colorful story of a young talented artist right by the sea.

Can you tell us a bit more about you ?

I am Franco-German, born in Norway and raised in the South of France, not far from Cannes. I’ve started painting when I was a teenager. After my studies at les Beaux-Arts de Paris,I moved to Berlin for five years where I started my young artist live. Now I work in an artist run space at Pantin, ChezKit. However, I still have a strong connection with Germany and spend a lot of time in Berlin, and more recently, in Leipzig.

How did you come up with this specific disposal of the material, mixing the mortar and the oil?

I’ve been working for years on a process focused on the gesture and the color. I started with large color gradients with oil painting, spaces which are both empty and saturated, smooth, free of any sign. I’m working on this series under the generic title « Départs couleurs ». Then I looked for a parallel to this evanescences, I had this need to confront, “to scratch the surface” in a way. And so I started the series Crinkle crush with large wrinkled canvas and both the series Quicksandsand Mouvantes, for which I use sand mortar.

Is the sand a recurring feature in your work?

Sand is one of my favorite materials. It articulates my research on the materiality of the color. There is a sensual and passionate perspective of the color in my work, it has a magical purpose in my view. The sand allows me to express a sensitive, tangible and earthling reality in a different way. By its nature, the sand refers us to the concepts of tangible and intangible, disappearance, elusiveness, time. The sand also invokes a maritime, solar, Mediterranean and seaside world but also a kind of melancholia which means something for me and has led to creative desires.

Can you tell us more about the place where we are ?

We are on my family’s land. My grand-father was a horticulturist and used to grow mimosas. I grew up in this house built on the plantation, in the heart of the French Riviera’s hills, facing the sea. These landscapes are part of my imagination, my memory and my story. The studio, where I work when I’m here, is in the middle of the threes. The shadow plays with the light and the crickets sing. I strongly feel the good vibes of this place in my work. The places where I’ve been have an influence on me and my work like a compass.

Let’s conclude with your future projects…

I leave at the end of the summer to work on a mural painting project in Luxembourg. Then I’ll go to Leipzig where will take place my first solo show in a gallery. I will also take part in the exhibition “Sunday Sunset” together with La peau de l’ours. Then I’ll get back to my studio ChezKitand will work together with the other artists on our next exhibition scheduled for fall.Next year, I’ll probably stay a long time in Germany and 3 months in Leipzig for a residency program. Other landscapes and exciting projects in perspective….