Light on an Artist : Sève Favre

Autor: Marie Bagi, Dr. Phil. History of Art (Biography at the end of the article)

On April 5th, the artist Sève Favre opened the doors of her studio to me. She tells me that she has had a varied career and finally started exhibiting to the public in 2017. This is despite the fact that her characteristic paintings, composed of moving boxes, are based on a concept that has been thought out and implemented since 2005. Indeed, Sève shows me the first "intervariactiv" painting by telling me that it is from this initial work that she sometimes still draws ideas for her future production. 

This is the striking feature of her art ; these boxes that we can open, close, place or move as we please in her works are the instruments of a direct contact that the artist establishes with her public. Hands become a tool for the realization of the work and not weapons - because very often we can also see them as such. She tells me that some people have difficulty daring to touch because of the fragile aspect of these boxes, which paradoxically makes them their strength. It is undeniably a great way to actively involve your audience in the creation of a work intended as a creative continuum. 

This is particularly true of her latest work "WWW. " that you can discover on her Instagram page" @sevefavre " where a mother and her daughter interact with this diptych composed of paper boxes (whose color reminds us of metal) connected by red threads such as a canvas (? toile ? in french) that we weave and which is connected to the "web" or canvas (for both same word ? toile ? used in French) ; installation and performance then become one. The first time I discovered this work, Frida Kahlo's painting entitled "The Two Fridays" came to mind. Indeed, the red vein that connects the Frida of the past to that of the present reminds us of this red thread, the protagonist of Sève's work. This common thread becomes the link we have with the different stages of our lives, with the various identities we have sometimes assumed, avatars of ourselves. The artist adds that this work, like all her work, plays on the overcoming of the classical boundaries of the canvas as a medium. But also prevents the compartmentalization of different types of art, which opens up new perspectives for interpretation. In her project #intervariactifserials, she stages the different possibilities of perception that this diptych brings to the viewer in order to question our typological definitions. Moreover, through the social network that is Instagram, Sève has chosen a mixed language to accompany her artistic process step by step. Indeed, she plays with the French and English languages, the latter mainly for computer vocabulary. Finally, this photo novel Instagram becomes a digital performance. Moreover, from the outset, the artist defined the conditions for its production, such as the publication schedule, the duration of the performance, the daily "digital labor" to be carried out or the documentation of the performance monitoring... In addition, she creates a virtual space in order to geolocate each publication in an exhibition space virtually chosen according to precise characteristics. This is undoubtedly the link with the geography studies carried out a few years earlier by the artist.

During the interview, an essential element challenges us. When we talk about art in general, but especially when we talk about being an artist, Simone de Beauvoir's quote comes to mind: "One is not born a woman: one becomes one. When you think about it, for an artist, it's the other way around. The artist does not become one, she is one. This visceral need to create makes her the person she is or will be. Louise Bourgeois has repeated this many times. The more I talk to artists, the more I realize that this perception of art is important to promote. And what do you think of being an "artist born"? 

When we look at or touch one of these boxes, we notice the detail of the realization. This detail, the artist tells me, is often seen by the public as an added value; because they are all made by Sève. What if we lose part of the box? What happens to the initial object? Is it losing value or is it taking value by enriching itself with its history? The number of questions raised is multiple....

The artist has so far chosen not to publish her photograph on h social networks, moreover her signature is on the back of his works and it is the only contribution to promote her identity. Why the back of his paintings? Because the front is intended as a space for sharing. In this way, it maintains a form of anonymity that ensures the primacy of the painting, "I'm not in but I'm part of it" as in Street Art, in a way. 

Working with touch certainly falls into the category of intimacy. On the one hand, there is the intimacy of the artist's creative process - it gives of itself in his work - and on the other hand, the intimacy linked to the appropriation by the public that intervenes directly on the artist's works. 

Sève Favre then approaches the question of art in a dynamic way in which the different intimate relationships between artist, work and public are raised. The sociology of art takes on its full meaning in its works that give rise to the encounter. 

Marie Bagi

About the Autor :

Marie Bagi, a doctor in contemporary art history and philosophy, is passionate about women artists and their work - especially Camille Claudel and Louise Bourgeois. She has worked and continues to work on their artistic recognition so that one day they can have their well-deserved place in the art world. This year, she is launching herself as an independent curator by creating her own space. The notion of intimacy was central to his doctoral research, which lasted 3 years. Today she devotes her energy and time to the creation of a space dedicated to art but especially to women and their works. She manages the Facebook page "Femmes Artistes : pour une  reconnaissance dans le monde de l’art " where the article is published on May 9, 2009.