♥ Do you remember your first aesthetic shock?
When I was about ten years old (in the 80s) I lived for 5 years in the North of China, in Manchuria. At my request, my mother bought me a small notebook with reproductions of traditional Chinese paintings of horses. They were horses painted with black Indian ink and colours. They were all quite similar, but different at the same time, depicted with mesmerizing finesse. I remember looking at that little notebook for hours and hours. I was fascinated by the quality of the drawing, and the beauty and realism of these painted horses.

♥ The artist you would like to meet? What would you say to him?
I would like to meet Francesco Clemente. I didn’t know him, until a friend of mine who lived in New York, and who was exhibiting one of my paintings at his house, asked me if I had heard of this painter. FC had been to his house one evening and had seen my painting hanging on the wall. The artist had asked him who had painted the picture, as he was in the process of doing the same in his studio. I then did some research on this painter and I was surprised to see how much we had the same pictorial language. It was as if we had invented a common language. Without knowing each other… It’s quite strange.

♥ What is your favourite colour? What does it inspire?
Blue-grey. It evokes the sky I guess, infinity, and calm.

♥ Which museum gives you the greatest emotion? Why do you ask?
There are obviously a lot of museums that I love, but I can mention here for example the Museum of Naive Art in Lausanne. I feel connected to many of the artists exhibited there.

♥ Which work of art would you buy without hesitation if you had an unlimited budget?
You don’t need an unlimited budget. I like to collect paintings by small, unknown or almost unknown artists.

♥ In which city do you feel happiest? Why or why not? Share your 3 favourite favorites.
In the last few years I have lived between Lisbon, Basel and Singapore… 3 quite different and complementary cities that I love. An address in Lisbon? The Teresa Seabra gallery in rua da Rosa which exhibits very innovative contemporary jewellery.In Singapore, the restaurant/bar PS Café in the magnificent Dempsey district, a real urban jungle. And in Basel, Art Basel of course. The must-see event for contemporary art with all its with all its parallel fairs like Liste Art Fair.