Emmanuel Malin
"I work fairly instinctively", says Parisian artist Emmanuel Bastid (Malin is his artist handle) about his work process. "With each new work or each new commission I try to capture the invisible and I try to create several layers of interpretation in an image. The artworks really only find their final form while I work on them. I like images that allow me to a story, wherein - while working on them - visual clues appear that assist my storytelling. I hope that that feeling of exploration transcends to the person that looks at the images. I try to be chatty in my work also and to give things substance by mixing figurative and abstract elements and to combine big gestures with delicate refinements."
Malin’s works - especially in print – looks like they have been made with traditional oil or acrylic paint techniques but they are made entirely with the computer. He is a digital painter. From very early on he was drawn to the computer and Photoshop quickly became his favorite tool.
"Working with the computer soothes me and relaxes me. I can test things out all the time and cause accidents and do things out of order while, like with architecture, the structure of an image always stays intact and I can stack layers in a logical manner. I'm happy when I can force a a bit of an accident in my work that leads to unexpected results or do digital experiments that lead to something much better than what I set out to do!"
"Photoshop is simply a tool that matches how I think of creating a picture. I can fiddle as much on the inside as the outside of an image at any time and nothing is ever fixed until I decide whether it is good enough. I like to think that the tools should not get in the way of the result and digital painting allows me to have fun."
"One of the recurring themes in my work is the conflict between man and his environment. Nature in my work is often a character, an actor. One that dominates the human figure who I often draw humbled or hidden. My work also revolves a lot around themes of masks, paganism and forgotten rituals, which converge in the idea that man masks himself or hides behind them and invents beliefs out of fear and admiration of an overwhelming nature in the broader sense. I think that even today, now that our modern faiths are more focused on technology than animism, we remain inhabited by the same anxieties as always and are still looking to try and dominate the mysterious energies around us. However, even though I have certain themes that reappear in my work, I try to never rely on habits. I continue to reflect on how I tell my stories and how to take the viewer elsewhere. I'm always afraid to stagnate so I am really fighting against possible stagnation."
Malin’s works - especially in print – looks like they have been made with traditional oil or acrylic paint techniques but they are made entirely with the computer. He is a digital painter. From very early on he was drawn to the computer and Photoshop quickly became his favorite tool.
"Working with the computer soothes me and relaxes me. I can test things out all the time and cause accidents and do things out of order while, like with architecture, the structure of an image always stays intact and I can stack layers in a logical manner. I'm happy when I can force a a bit of an accident in my work that leads to unexpected results or do digital experiments that lead to something much better than what I set out to do!"
"Photoshop is simply a tool that matches how I think of creating a picture. I can fiddle as much on the inside as the outside of an image at any time and nothing is ever fixed until I decide whether it is good enough. I like to think that the tools should not get in the way of the result and digital painting allows me to have fun."
"One of the recurring themes in my work is the conflict between man and his environment. Nature in my work is often a character, an actor. One that dominates the human figure who I often draw humbled or hidden. My work also revolves a lot around themes of masks, paganism and forgotten rituals, which converge in the idea that man masks himself or hides behind them and invents beliefs out of fear and admiration of an overwhelming nature in the broader sense. I think that even today, now that our modern faiths are more focused on technology than animism, we remain inhabited by the same anxieties as always and are still looking to try and dominate the mysterious energies around us. However, even though I have certain themes that reappear in my work, I try to never rely on habits. I continue to reflect on how I tell my stories and how to take the viewer elsewhere. I'm always afraid to stagnate so I am really fighting against possible stagnation."