Finding Comfort in You II: A Shared Refuge in Pain
By Sebastien Montel
Finding Comfort in You II continues my exploration of refuge, intimacy, and compassion through the act of presence. Just as in the first painting of the series, the work reflects the ways we lean on one another to navigate storms of emotion. As a French artist working in both Los Angeles and Palm Springs, I see comfort not as an isolated idea, but as a universal language, one that transcends age, gender, or circumstance.
Comfort Beyond Boundaries
The need for comfort belongs to all of us. It is not bound to one sex, one generation, or one type of relationship. While pain is expressed differently from person to person, its essence is universally understood, and it calls for a compassionate response. In Finding Comfort in You II, I wanted to capture that shared humanity: the instinct to reach for, and to provide, solace.
Absorbing Another’s Pain
This painting depicts a female figure enveloping a male counterpart, wrapping herself around him as if to absorb his pain. The gesture is intimate yet ambiguous: is she consoling him, protecting him, or carrying some of the burden herself? This dynamic creates tension, amplifying the drama behind his visible expression of agony.
This is the language of expressionist art, where distortion and intensity reveal truths that literal representation cannot.
Inviting Interpretation
My work often falls within the space of emotional art and psychological art because it resists a single definition. Finding Comfort in You II is not designed to answer questions, but to provoke them. Each observer brings their own experience, their own narrative, to the piece.
Reflection questions emerge:
Is the female figure responsible for the male’s anguish?
Is he responding to tragedy, injustice, or grief?
Or is this the unrestrained expression of a deeper crisis, emotional or psychological?
The viewer is invited not to solve the scene, but to sit with it, to feel its tension.
Layers of Process
As with all of my work, this painting is built through mixed media art, oil, pencil, and newspaper layered to create depth and complexity. These materials mirror the layered emotions of the figures themselves. The result is a surface that, much like human experience, is textured, imperfect, and deeply alive.
A Universal Story in Contemporary Art
In the context of contemporary art, Finding Comfort in You II speaks to the shared emotional truths we carry. Comfort is not always dramatic. Sometimes it is as simple as an embrace, a hand on the shoulder, or the silent willingness to stand beside another person’s suffering.
For me, this painting reflects the paradox of comfort: that it does not erase pain, but exists alongside it, offering presence when words are not enough.