Meditate with Michel Paysant (born in 1955)

From what does a pictorial representation arise? From the hand that masters the subtle art of the brush? Of the eye that learns to look? Or the brain which connects one to the other to adjust an optical impression to its manual expression?

This question runs through the quest of the French artist Michel Paysant. A few years ago, the contemplation of Water lilies by the painter Claude Monet, immense pictorial works which invade the entire field of vision like a landscape without beginning or end, gave rise to the desire to be interested in the eye more than the hand. The technological tools will help him implement his project, called Daly. The acronym states the forgotten obvious: yes, first of all, we draw with our eyes! Using a process that allows the movements of the eyes to be followed on a surface, the artist transmits this interior trace to a robotic arm carrying a pencil which transcribes it onto paper. Digitized, the work is then colorized, again from a distance, by the force of the gaze. If this poppy thus drawn is reminiscent of those previously looked at in Monet’s paintings, it is rendered here in its initial fragility. Our interior life reveals itself to be trembling and overflowing, uncertain and graceful. Full of Breath.