artist/ Olivia de Bona

France

A Parisian artist born in 1985, Olivia de Bona has been developing a poetic lexicon for over 15 years, using images that combine her personal imagination with collective imagery, which she adapts to the media and materials that her creative curiosity brings her into contact with.

After graduating in applied arts and animated film in 2005, Olivia de Bona quickly moved away from digital media to satisfy her interest in craftsmanship. Unable to separate the work from its medium, she considers each creation as a whole, and it is often a technical curiosity that inspires her to embark on a new project.

In recent years, she has focused particularly on developing the almost forgotten technique of straw marquetry. This involves carefully gluing real strands of straw, which have been pressed and colored beforehand, one by one, onto a wooden base to form the patterns and scenes in her works. It is an extremely time-consuming technique that requires a great deal of patience and skill; Olivia estimates that she can produce a maximum of 10cm2 per day…

While Olivia de Bona’s technical mastery enhances her figurative universe, the narrative aspect of her work remains the most important, touching on storytelling and intimacy. Nature, animals, dreams, nudes, women, and hair are all leitmotifs that allow her to structure her artistic mythology and lose herself in the representation of the material that is so dear to her.