Caressing Print

Biographics Also known as MâOphelie-sophiE D Schallerwright, Helvetian of Bulgarian descent, I grew up in the French part of Switzerland, not far from the city of Basel. In this artful neighborhood, my sensitive and melancholic nature led me to the discovery of the beaux arts & literature very early on, shaping clear-cut predilections for me : The vivid lines of medieval miniatures & Japanese prints, of Aubrey Beardsley & Ivan Bilibin. I soon immersed myself in illustrated fictions of my own. As I often felt in exile & estranged from others, I turned to objects of joy and fading memories. This gave me a thirst for more - more art, more melodies, more words, more landscapes. So started a long journey, still unfolding … Artist Statement I envision my work as a lyrical token materializing the common human experience & it naturally unfolds as an intuitive & sensitive expression of the psychê - roots grounded in the surreal, branching towards an everlasting quest for harmony, which bears the print of various cultural influences - long journeys from Europe to the faraway East & the Far West, & back and forth -, of old & modern love poetry, tainted memories, sweetest melancholies & Joy. And so I build a serene maze, whence simple curvilinear & elegant designs surround & cloathe enigmatic figures floating in an otherworldly timeline. My most elaborate compositions deal with personal photographic material used as tiny elements of a shattered mosaic that I piece distantly, alternately with layers of digital painting, & even gold or silver leaf, to reveal a subtle play between clear lines & sfumato, tangible fragments of life & a fantas(ma)tic symbolic repertoire that belongs to the lyrical intimacy of daydream. Something like a mystery unfolding : Stratification of emotions that I often mend with flowers for a cohesive instantané of the Soul.