INTERVIEW: EMILY GEIRNAERT
I am a minimalist, and at home it really is a true philosophy of life. It doesn't take much to make me happy or sad, so I'm not cheating.
Could you please introduce yourself a little? Where are you from, and what is your general background?
My name is Emily Geirnaert, I was born in Paris to an Irish mother and a French father. I grew up in the southern suburbs of Paris, surrounded by this dual culture. Today I still live in Paris, a city that I hold dear in my heart for its culture, its architecture, its secrets and its diversity. At the end of my baccalaureate, I studied arts with a focus on interior design at Penninghen (Paris) for five years.
I know you are an interior designer. Do you have any other art or design training?
Yes I am an interior designer, but I mainly do scenography. I work for theatres, television, advertising and other events.
I only have formal training in interior design. When it comes to scenography, everything happens through meetings, experience, and learning by doing. Today, to the great dreamer that I am, it brings a lot of joy to be able to live from this profession, this ephemeral art, and its infinite possibilities of expression.
You started a collage project called “Les collages poétiques” in 2018. Was that your first encounter with collage as a technique?
My "collages poétiques" project is not my first experience with collage. I used it when I was much younger but not at all in the same spirit as today. At the time, I worked with fragments of torn, crumpled, coloured magazines that I juxtaposed to recreate portraits of the people around me.
It is surprising to see that today I use the opposite of this technique since the scalpel is my main tool and it is rare to see a face appear in my collages.
What about collage as an art form speaks to you?
Collage as an art in its own right attracted me for its infinite possibilities but also for the chance to deconstruct and recreate things in my own way. When I started posting my daily collages on Instagram, I quickly discovered this fascinating and creative world of collage artists. It’s incredible that a real community spreads all over the world, and that we each have our own techniques, our modes of expression, a great admiration for some, and in these times of confinement a real solidarity, it’s beautiful.
How do you go about transforming an idea into a physical collage?
I have been keeping this book open for two years now, because it is above all a diary, sometimes intimate, sometimes focused, of this strange and questionable world in which we live. There is a kind of psychoanalytic work in my collages, I cut, I glue, I express myself, I laugh, I cry, I doubt, I wonder... in short I live and above all let my unconscious speak.
So obviously, on some days I have a real desire and need to express a feeling, and my collage will be very much planned and constructed in my mind, and then on other days I will be faced with doubt, and without forcing anything I leave room for chance, taking whatever result I get for an answer.
You’re a minimalist. Is that a purely aesthetic or more philosophical choice?
I am a minimalist, and at home it really is a true philosophy of life. It doesn't take much to make me happy or sad, so I'm not cheating. I remain faithful to the famous phrase of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe: "less is more".
I also apply it in my creative process. I play with empty space, black and white, and recently I started to go even further by limiting myself to create my collages from two or three elements maximum.
How would you describe your style in your own words?
Oh, this question is very complicated for me, so I will continue to call them "les collages poétiques".
From where do you draw inspiration?
I realize with hindsight that the artist who most inspired and guided me in my artistic choices is the photographer Rodney Smith.
I also find inspiration in everyday life, during my walks, in nature, when I read, in exchanges with my friends, my teenage sons, long contemplations, love ... In the evenings, when I'm finally alone, I listen to music, always, think about my day, and give in to a bit of reverie, which brings me into the process of creation, into my imaginary world.
You started your collage series in 2018. Have you noticed your work evolve and change during that time, and if so how?
Recently I have started to look at my early collages again, and I laughed a lot! Obviously there has been a real evolution, and I hope it will continue. Two years ago I groped around, I explored, things were more cluttered and I was looking for my real voice.
Over time, my technique has become more refined, and my choices have become more deliberate. I like to take risks, and even when I fail, I accept it, I learn from it, and I try again.
Any lessons learned you care to share?
As I said earlier, yes, I learn something every day, but these are personal reflection.
I don’t like giving lessons. People are free to express what they want, especially when they create. I myself prefer to pass on techniques, after that, everyone has their own style, prism, desires...
Do you have any plans for future projects?
For the moment and with what is happening to us all around in the world I have no plans but rather a real wish, that for a better, more respectful, more just world. And to continue to create. That’s vital for me!
That said, good luck to everyone, and take good care of yourself.
Emily Geirnaert web IG
interview Petra Zehner
first published on Glacial Collective Prose, our old online magazine, on April 15, 2020