The Role of Newspaper in My Work

When people first see my paintings, they often ask why there are fragments of newspaper embedded in the surface. For me, newspaper isn’t about the words. It’s about the texture, the noise, and the feeling it leaves behind. As a French artist and expressionist artist, I see every material as a way to carry meaning - not just through the image itself, but through the surface we encounter first.

Texture Before Image

Before I even begin to paint, I often layer the canvas with newspaper. It’s an early step in my mixed media art process, adding depth before a single brushstroke. The uneven edges, the way the paper wrinkles or absorbs oil, create an organic foundation. This tactile starting point allows the finished work to hold more emotional weight.

In contemporary art, materials often carry as much significance as subject matter. For me, newspaper isn’t a reference to headlines or current events - it’s a reference to the noise of daily life, the background hum we all live with. It’s the visual equivalent of static, something we notice only when we pause to really look.

Emotional and Psychological Layers

My work often falls into the realm of emotional art and psychological art. The figures I paint are shaped by the undercurrent of human experience, and the newspaper acts as a silent witness to that experience. It’s there, beneath the colors and distortions, like memories we don’t speak about but still carry.

The presence of newspaper also mirrors the way we process emotion: fragmented, nonlinear, sometimes overlapping. We rarely experience feelings in neat, tidy lines, why should the surface of a painting be any different?

Leaving Space for Interpretation

I never choose a newspaper clipping for its message or story. In fact, I avoid anything that might steer the viewer toward a single interpretation. My goal is for each person to bring their own meaning to the work. The printed words are partially hidden, layered, or erased, just enough to suggest history without defining it.

By incorporating newspaper into my practice, I give the canvas its own memory before the image even begins to form. It becomes a living surface, part artifact, part emotional record.

Newspaper, like the desert light here in Palm Springs, changes depending on how you look at it. And for me, that’s the beauty of expressionist art: it holds space for the unexpected, the imperfect, and the deeply human.

Explore More of My Work

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How My French Background Shapes My Work