Bio
Coquelicot Mafille’s artistic research centers around play, the dimensions of dreams, and the space occupied by language, nature and human relationships. In her body of work, different times and places intertwine, highlighting the poetic elements of multicultural identity and the experimental possibilities of multilingualism. The artist draws an intimate portrait of social and natural episodes, each made up by small moments, gestures and pauses.
Growing up in a multi-ethnic neighbourhood of Paris instilled a need for encounter and exchange in the artist. This cosmopolitan and transversal vision was developed further during her classical and political studies, as well as her many solo travels, and resulted in a nomadic and exploratory approach to her artistic practice.
Often working in an urban environment - spaces in the city that are chosen for their symbolic value, mostly places in decline: walls, bus shelters, store windows, the city becomes her field of investigation.
Mafille’s multifaceted practice makes use of a range of media such as embroidery, writing, and painting, on a variety of surfaces like canvas, fabric, paper, urban walls and windows. Her artistic research is conducted through the collection of existing images and collage techniques. Her favouring of embroidery stems from, on the one hand, her familiarity with the tools and fabrics because of her mother’s profession as a designer and dressmaker, and on the other, from its similarity to the practice of writing.
Many of the artist’s works are to be read like poems. They're an expression of her desire to tell all the stories of the world, as a way to give the people and things that disappear in today’s hustle and bustle, a new presence. Thus, the artist draws a dreamy and playful universe of imaginary stories - a melting pot of cultures, identities, and thoughts.
Coquelicot Mafille, currently lives and works in Milan.
Read the interviewGrowing up in a multi-ethnic neighbourhood of Paris instilled a need for encounter and exchange in the artist. This cosmopolitan and transversal vision was developed further during her classical and political studies, as well as her many solo travels, and resulted in a nomadic and exploratory approach to her artistic practice.
Often working in an urban environment - spaces in the city that are chosen for their symbolic value, mostly places in decline: walls, bus shelters, store windows, the city becomes her field of investigation.
Mafille’s multifaceted practice makes use of a range of media such as embroidery, writing, and painting, on a variety of surfaces like canvas, fabric, paper, urban walls and windows. Her artistic research is conducted through the collection of existing images and collage techniques. Her favouring of embroidery stems from, on the one hand, her familiarity with the tools and fabrics because of her mother’s profession as a designer and dressmaker, and on the other, from its similarity to the practice of writing.
Many of the artist’s works are to be read like poems. They're an expression of her desire to tell all the stories of the world, as a way to give the people and things that disappear in today’s hustle and bustle, a new presence. Thus, the artist draws a dreamy and playful universe of imaginary stories - a melting pot of cultures, identities, and thoughts.
Coquelicot Mafille, currently lives and works in Milan.
