Creative influence

Nathanaelle Herbelin, the 2019 prize winner, worked in Beijing from November 2019 to January 2020. Living in a hutong, she turned the daily life of Beijing into her own creative inspiration.

"During my stay, I had the honor and chance to meet Liu Xiaodong in his studio. I am still amazed by his capacity and talent to paint subjects on such a big scale, based on his observations only. This encounter will remain a big source of inspiration," she says.

"Since COVID-19 many people are longing for human interaction, a longing that is still somehow not fully compensated … I am happy to see the art world blossoming again. … I was even afraid that international physical exchanges would be much rarer.

"I am glad to be able to host people in my studio again, as they constitute a big part of my portrait practice. Hosting others' energies in my studio deeply influences my creation."

Her painting His Room is on show at Guimet Museum.

Cayol says: "In Herbelin's world, everything you can see can be painted. Her paintings invite us, but they block us at the entrance, in stillness. China will never let people see at a glance. The same is true of her paintings.

"Painting is a way of fighting against the demons in your heart, and it is a paradise that you try to keep. Maybe you can immerse your own world into the canvas, and it can become an independent world, radiating the magnetic field, illusory and unreal, subject to the changing rhythm of light and brush."

For Cayol, tradition is the key to being able to innovate.

"You need to know where you come from," she says. "The Yishu 8 artists have in common this sense of heritage and a particular sense of beauty. Beauty and poetry don't come from nowhere, but from heritage. They respect tradition and, for this reason, they are so innovative. It is like a family, you need to respect your grandfather and grandmother, in order to be able to build your own and original life."

The exhibition is set to run through Feb 27.