Born in Perpignan, France, Jérôme Sainte-Luce studied applied arts in Rivières Des Fathers, then plastic arts in Spain and then in the Ardèche. In 2002 he gained a ‘Diplôme Supérieur d’Art Appliqué (DSAA)’ at the Estienne school in Paris. Now working as an artist and trainer of applied arts in Guadeloupe, Jerome is gaining global notoriety for his remarkable work. We’re delighted to feature him here.
D: Hi Jerome, and welcome to Decadent. We think your work is incredible. It’s so bold and so nuanced. Can you start by telling us, what is your motivation to create?
JSL: My motivation to create is to rediscover that feeling of immensity, immortality, space, energy, reverie and fantasy that I felt in my childhood. To rediscover this feeling where the human being is more than bones and flesh, but that he can subsist far beyond, in other forms, under other forces… My motivation to create is to imagine my own immortality!
D: Tell us a little bit about your story. What were the most inspiring moments of your life?
JSL: Among my memories as a teenager there are 3 memories that have left a deep impression on me:
– The first: a beautiful memory, deeply moving and so dizzying: it was that vague moment when I discovered that man was a mortal being. Since that day, I believe that my imagination has deployed in order to undoubtedly accept the Unspeakable.
– The second: It is these engravings on the rocks that I found on the paths where I walked, these engravings that at the very beginning touched me by their strangeness, their singularity … I spent a large part of my adolescence in an archaeological basin, located on the island of Guadeloupe, in the city of Trois-Rivières, where there are many jewels (engravings, pottery, etc.) relating to the Amerindians, the first inhabitants of the island…I did not know that the “vestiges” of this civilization were going to be very important in my artistic creation.
– The third: it is nature, I have always had a fascination for nature, I have long had and continue to make long walks almost like wanderings, alone in the woods, going up rivers, to meet in the middle of trees, in front of cliffs to look at the ocean. I fear and worship nature, as do my ancetres.
After studying Applied Arts and Plastic Arts, in Guadeloupe, Paris and Spain, I returned to my island (Guadeloupe), In 2009, there was a very important moment in my life: the moment when I made the connection between my childhood memories, my memories of adolescence and the one I was a few years after, It was important for me to “find my language”. To combine everything that constitutes me.
D: Your work is fascinating. It is subtle and yet bold and powerful. What motivates this energy?
JSL: What motivates this energy seems to me is always this quest, this strong desire, to privilege instinct, to privilege the immediate, spontaneous, direct, essential and raw side. The idea of accepting graphic accidents, of giving free rein to the imagination, of not necessarily trying to do well but rather to feel and transcribe…
The desire to explore is something that motivates me enormously!
I like the feeling of not knowing where to go, it reminds me of my walks in nature, trying not to have plans. It’s a little bit the same when I create, no sketches, just the strength of the present moment… and to discover what will come out.
D: We are called Decadent because we believe that society is in decline – but from decadence comes a new life and new creativity. What does decadence mean to you?
JSL: Decadence for me is a form of provocation, a way of saying: There is another way of seeing, there is another way of feeling that is different from the one that the diffuse norm.Decadence for me is also simply being different, and from this difference to other windows, other doors, other ways of approaching life!
To be decadent is to make the other voice listen and say that there is something else.
Decadence is freedom
D: Is there a part of your process that you find decadent?
JSL: Probably the fact that I favor accidents, instinct… Probably the desire to leave emotions free, to hinder gestures as little as possible… it’s difficult since I realize that we are so programmed, we carry so many legacies that sometimes chain us and suffocate us… I draw, I paint to free myself a little every day and get closer to a form of freedom.
D: Thanks so much for speaking with us today.
