Alexandre Facheaux Contemporary Art
See your life in art
The Dalai Lama once said, “The purpose of our lives is to be happy”. I believe he could not possibly be further from the truth. My life has been defined by art; art that occasionally makes me feel happy, but also makes me experience a flurry of emotions all at the same time. Sadness, fear, and anger all define life just as much as happiness does. I believe the purpose of life is to experience it as it happens, like watching a bird fly past your head, quickly and peacefully. I believe in making peace with the most undesirable emotions and experiences, so I suppose my views on life can be more accurately expressed by Lao Tzu, who said that “Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like”. Centuries later, this philosophy reappeared with Frida Kahlo, who said “I never paint dreams or nightmares. I paint my own reality”. In my art, I repeat the words of Lao Tzu and Frida Kahlo, along with more great philosophers and artists with one key difference: while they communicate with words, I communicate with vivid images of reality. When I say, "see your life in art", I am really asking that you view my art as a representation of what life is for you and for everyone else: reality.
Spotlight: "Guilt"
"Guilt" is available now on ebay!
One of humanity's most complex emotions is guilt: the inspiration for this piece of artwork by Alexandre Facheaux. It features mysterious figures falling into a downward spiral, representing how the guilt of individuals can pull them towards a deep, dark place. Guilt visualizes people falling down a figurative hole, all because they feel as if they are in some way connected to another person's falling. The shadowy silhouettes with wings represent people with a system of support soaring above their guilt with the figurative wings that they have acquired. Guilt recognizes and conveys all of the intricacies of its inspiration. It is a visual explanation of how even the most complex emotions are built like simple machines. Guilt is a portrait filled with emotions and a modern art piece that tells an ancient story.
Guilt is a one-of-a-kind art piece on a 20x30 inch canvas. It was created by Alexandre Facheaux in June 2020. It tells a story that is not told by any other art piece and is a unique way to convey an emotion that everyone feels.
YEUX FERMÈS
Alexandre Facheux's First Art Collection
The yeux fermés collection is about what we see with our eyes closed. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said that "Truth is a torch, but a terrific one; therefore we all try to reach it with closed eyes, lest we should be scorched". As I was creating this collection, I frequently revisited this quote. When we all close our eyes, I believe that we can see what we are too afraid to see with our eyes open and that when our eyes are tightly shut, our minds and our hearts are wide open.
l'obscurité
L'obscurité is French for darkness and obscurity. I thought that the best way to begin my collection about closed eyes is with darkness. Of course, this art piece is not completely dark, but I believe that makes it much more representative of darkness. Nothing natural is completely dark and one of humanity's greatest achievements is mastering the ability to see droplets of light in a sea of darkness and that is what l'obscurité is about.
l'envol
As I shut my eyes, I occasionally fall into a sleep full of dreams. One word captures the essence of dreams: soaring. This is what l'envol means. It symbolizes shutting your eyes and being transported into an alternate reality of constant disbelief and wonder, soaring above your feelings, soaring above your heart, soaring above your mind and occasionally, soaring above your sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Dreaming is what makes us all equal. Dreams are the place where we soar above our problems and l'envol is the art piece that symbolizes this.
rêve de fleur
Look at this painting. Two things come to mind: flowers and dreams. Dreaming has been a central theme for my yeux fermés collection and for one reason: most of the time we close our eyes, we are dreaming. A flower is an inspiration for me because it begins as a seed, vulnerable to anything around it. Its entire life is shaped by uncontrollable forces, yet it survives. In rêve de fleur, which translates to "flower dream", I compare flowers to dreams as they are both strong forces powered by hope and disbelief.
mauvais rêve
In my previous art pieces, I portrayed dreams in a positive way as beautiful, extraordinary places within yourself. Mauvais rêve, which is french for "bad dream", is my way of showing the dark side of dreams. I regularly emphasize my belief that art is not always pleasant. Mauvais réve is definitely not a pleasant sight. But just as human beings possess the ability to see light in the darkness, we can see beauty in the most unattractive things. Mauvais rêve is a state of mind tethered to the belief that art is not appreciated for its beauty or its details but for its abilities to invoke emotions within oneself.
manque de clarté
Manque de clarté. In English, it means "lack of clarity". Closed eyes signify an open mind, but when a mind is open, thoughts flood the mind; thousands of feelings, emotions, and opinions that may or may not be relevant or consequential. When I created manque de clarté, I focused on the feeling of these fleeting ideas all contributing to a lack of clarity within my mind, and this lack of clarity is what this piece of art should use.
désorienté
When you close your eyes and attempt to walk, run, play a game, or do any normal activities with your eyes closed, you will feel one overwhelming feeling: disorientation, which is désorienté in French. When making this art piece, I simply took inspiration from the definition of the word, disorientation. It is defined as "the condition of having lost one's sense of direction". This is the sense that désorienté represents, the sense I felt when making it, and then sense you should feel when observing it.
Eternal Sleep
Eternal Sleep is the last piece in the yeux fermés collection and the first one with a title in English. I wanted it to be as simple as possible so I named it Eternal Sleep, a state in which one's eyes are closed forever. In other words, this is a piece about death. When we leave the world and close our eyes forever, I believe there is no explanation for where we go, so I made this piece freely with no set explanation. When looking at Eternal Sleep, you should see whatever you believe you will see once you enter a state of eternal sleep.
“The principles of true art is not to portray, but to evoke.”
Jerzy Kosinski
