Léa Augereau had only one idea in mind: to work in haute couture. Little by little, she became one of the most prominent French painters on Instagram.

by Elisa Covo/ French Elle

 "I did not intend to paint at all".

It is with these words that the artist Léa Augereau, 29, sums up her atypical journey towards an art that today sets her up as a rising figure on the young French scene. Before discovering her vocation, this artist, revealed on Instagram, dreamed of her life differently. Originally from Rochelle, the young woman arrived in Paris with the ambition to work in haute couture. Her love for textiles, perhaps inherited from her family of weavers, led her to the Sentier, where she cut her teeth as an assistant model maker in a workshop. However, this experience did not meet her expectations: "I realized that it did not suit me, creativity was not present enough". She then decides to take a step back to find a house that would suit her better, which would perhaps be more modern or more open to her desire to innovate.

FASHION PAINTER

Obliged step, it is necessary for her to redo his book: “I had made two collections where I had sewn the patronages myself. To illustrate my models in drawing, I wanted to try painting. I was at my mother's house, there was a small acrylic box lying around. I made the first painting like this. I put it on Instagram and people immediately liked it ”. Faced with the enthusiasm she meets, she decides to illustrate each look with a painting, which she then shares on the network. Her paintings are unanimous, she gradually gains in visibility. Very quickly, the proposals poured in. Brands ask her for collaborations, some going so far as to offer her an exhibition. She takes a liking to it, painting becomes her daily life. After a brief exile in London, where she will have her first real contacts with the art world, she comes back convinced that she has found her way: “I've seen crazy things there, the creative scene is much freer there than in Paris or La Rochelle. This reinforced my desire to devote myself fully to painting ”.

But she never really forgets her first passion. Her canvases are imprinted with her experience as a model maker: she gives pride of place to colored prints, prefers straight and frank lines to abstract brushstrokes, devotes a cult to materials. Her characters wear outfits that are sometimes elaborate, sometimes sober, always finely thought out. Her influences also reveal her fashion culture: Sonia Rykiel and her colorful universe, Jeanne Lanvin and the elegance of her cuts, Coco Chanel and her visionary spirit, Schiaparelli and her way of combining art and clothing… So many essential figures that inspire the artist: “I admire these women because they have built their own history ”. There is also a certain bodily poetry in his paintings: "I have a lot of dancer friends, movement is something that inspires me a lot" confides the artist.

"I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO HAVE HAD THE GIFT OF HANDLING WORDS"

Léa Augereau also likes stories: “I am very sensitive to writing, to poetry. It is a gift that I would have liked to have had. I see my paintings as little poems ”. Painting is her way of telling what she imagines: “behind each canvas, there is a story. I visualize it as a scene with things before and things after. Then, thanks to my paintings, I will capture a moment of that scene ”. This narrative side is also found in the essential role that the titles of his portraits play in his creative process: “very often, I have the name of the painting before I paint it. I pretty much visualize what I want to do. When I put myself on the sketch, things come naturally. There are elements that I give up, details that I add ... Sometimes, during the painting, the title may change as the idea evolves. There is a factor of uncertainty; the process is not clear and established. I work a lot on impulse. "Her titles are sometimes evocative, such as" Sorority "or" The Winner ", which testify to her feminist commitment:" I am a woman and I have suffered discrimination. I have known situations that are not always normal, in my private and professional life. For me, it's very important to get involved at this level ”. in my private and professional life. For me, it's very important to get involved at this level ”. in my private and professional life. For me, it's very important to get involved at this level ”.

Léa Augereau is part of this new generation of women painters whose webs flourish on Instagram. For the artist, this social network has made it possible to open up the field of art to women who were once excluded: “Our voice is heard more because we are more autonomous. Today, thanks to the internet and Instagram, we no longer need the approval of galleries that were once predominantly run by men. They would not necessarily have been sensitive to what we do, or would have immediately categorized it as “girl's art or female art”, without giving us the opportunity to be seen by the public. In the new generation there are a lot of girls doing amazing things. Thanks to Instagram we can be all alone, do our thing on our own, and have a window on the whole world. There, we see if we touch people. And obviously it is! »She rejoices. Instagram plays the role of a springboard for this generation full of ideas.

AND AFTER ?

The artist has more than one string to his bow. The confinement allowed him to test other ways of creating such as plaster sculpture or mosaic. She also confided that she had a project of 14 canvases with a brand for the making of a lookbook: “it's a nice way to overcome the impossibility of doing photo shoots at the moment; it's like a poetic throwback to the time when we made drawings to present models, ”she explains. Léa Augereau also evokes her desire to return to model making without reproducing practices that she considers obsolete. Added to this is also the desire to set up your own exhibition, when the context allows. An artist with a sensitive and colorful universe, who has not said her last word!

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