Cognitive Dissonance Painting

"My artistic work is rooted in a deep introspective pursuit, where emotion is felt, examined, and given form through narrative." Clotilde Maillard is a French painter born in 1960. Trained at the Ateliers Penninghen in Paris, where she refined classical painting techniques, she has developed a practice rooted in an introspective pursuit in which sensitivity and visual perception structure her work. Starting from moments of intense perception, she documents them and accumulates them as visual fragments—in the form of photographs, notes, or videos—then constructs her paintings by prioritizing light, composition, and the materiality of paint. Each image must stand on its own, asserting its presence in the viewer’s mind. She explores a wide range of supports (canvas, wood, paper, fabric) and techniques (oil, acrylic, tempera, pastel, ink), addressing portraiture and landscape alike, from the live model to a form of figurative abstraction grounded in reality. A member of the collective “Dessiner le Vivant,” she has collaborated with other artists on representations of movement—dance, tango, horses—combining observation, performance, and creation. Clotilde maillard also takes on commissions, which brings her a delightful rush of adrenaline, and she is open to any artistic proposals. You can visit her website anytime and follow her on Instagram.