Sophie, digital collage 🇫🇷

♥ Do you remember your first aesthetic shock?
Not the first, but a powerful one, on a work by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec,: “Yvette Guilbert chantant ” Linger, Longer, Loo “, Paris, 1894. At the Morozov Collection exhibition in Paris, , I was surprised to come across this painting. I’m an unconditional fan of Toulouse-Lautrec, and not expecting to see this painting, tears streamed down my face as my heart penetrated the energy of his gesture. Like a moving encounter with someone you’ve loved and who’s gone.

♥ The artist you’d like to meet? What would you say to her?
I’d like to meet Sarah Bernhardt. Pioneer. Multi-artist. Committed woman. Demanding and uncompromising. I’d like to thank her for the example she is. For opening up paths and voices for women. She inspires me with her anti-conformism, her excellence and her vital human and artistic energy. I’ll congratulate her and ask her if I can work with her in the theater, or in the studio, or follow her on tour around the world.

♥ What is your favorite color? What does it inspire?
As a child, I was obsessed with yellow, which I called “lemon”. I think the joy and warmth of this color has always appealed to me for its positive, comforting power.

♥ Which museum gives you the greatest emotion? Why or why not?
I don’t have a favorite museum. I’m curious about everything. It’s the encounters with the works that move me. I get caught up in the energy that the artist has put into his art, into his gesture. I’m transported to him, into him, and feel the emotional state he was in when he created. Like that day, during the Tutankhamun exhibition at La Grande Halle de la Villette, when I was looking at a model of a wooden funerary boat, my gaze lingered on a tool mark on the boat’s deck. My mind instantly transported me into the body of the Egyptian craftsman carving the model. It was powerful and moving.

♥ Which work of art would you buy without hesitation if you had an unlimited budget?
Lately I’ve been hesitating to buy a Cocteau drawing. Another multi-talented, multi-disciplinary artist whose surrealist universe speaks to me a lot, as does the purity of line in his drawings.

♥ In which city do you feel happiest? Why or why not? Share your 3 favorite addresses.
There’s one place where I love to recharge my batteries: the Arcachon Basin. Sitting on the Mauret beach in Andernos-Les-Bains, I watch the sun go down without ever getting tired of it. I don’t think Bora-Bora or Los Angeles have anything to envy from this magical place. On the Bassin, of course, you have the view of the entrance to the Bassin from the top of the Dune du Pilat, which is one of the most beautiful views in the world. I also recommend taking a stroll in the Quinconces forest behind the Port-Ostréicole d’Andernos, when the ferns are high and the great wise men, the master pines, gather in council to discuss whether or not to welcome you to their magical forest.

And still with the nature and spiritual side, the Okuno-in cemetery on Mount Koya in Japan. The atmosphere there is magical, changing with the weather, and you can feel the fine line between humans and spirits, reminiscent of the film Chihiro’s Journey.

♥ What book keeps you up all night?
Books that take me away into their world or artists’ biographies like Leonardo da Vinci. True stories and books of testimonies also fascinate me, like Stephane Allix’s “Quand j’étais quelqu’un d’autre”.

♥ What are your greatest sources of inspiration?
Nature. Universal energy. Love. The power of the sea and the warmth of the sun. The light of a sunset painting the clouds pink and orange.

♥ What’s the funkiest thing you’ve done in your life?
Letting my heart guide me and finding myself deep in Mongolia, on top of a sacred mountain, being initiated into shamanism by a great Mongolian medicine woman, healer of souls since her early childhood. Put on my shaman costume, make offerings to Nature, Mother Earth and Heaven, and set off to explore my inner world.

♥ What is your definition of happiness?
Freedom