Creative Minds: Enter the Universe of French artist Tiffany Bouelle
With a childhood spent between France and Japan, artist Tiffany Bouelle showcases her artistry on her eponymous social media account @tiffanybouelle. Her brand image is immediately recognisable, her work is powerful, and her story-telling is engaging. Tiffany embodies the ethos of the multicultural creative in tune with the fast pace of these digital times.
SHARED Magazine: Your posts can be deep and reflexive and your Reels witty and funny. What is your process of crafting your social media persona as an artist?
I try to be as authentic as possible to the person I am in my private life. I deal with societal issues in my painting and I often need to disconnect from all that in my private life.
I'm also an extreme person. It's often all or nothing, so breaks are important and I think the Reels show this aspect.
I haven't developed any particular strategy I often follow ideas instinctively and I pay more attention to framing and light which are things I like to take into consideration when I do photography.
For me, Instagram is an endless playground where I can show my studio and happy fragments of my daily life. I mix up work as well as the restaurants I discover. The more it goes on, the more it tends towards lifestyle and this evolution has been made naturally in relation to the things I like and that I want to share with my community.
SM: You are quite active on Instagram. Where do you find inspiration for your creative content?
Honestly it doesn't take much effort when your job is artistic. I like to imagine concepts, I like photography, I like directing, I like cinema so it's all quite natural. Then, it is more in what order I want to share it. What will make people dream as much as I do and where do I want to lead them by my side.
SM: For a long time, an aura of exclusivity and scarcity was highly praised in the French art world. Do you find criticism, by sharing your art and part of your personal life on social media?
I have no problem mixing my life with my art because I am my art and I breathe my art. The art market has its codes but it has changed a lot in the last five years.
I am very curious to discover the new generation that will take its place in this market. It is with them that I want to work. My vision as an artist is much broader than what the institutions advocate.
Doing collaborations has often been demonised as an artist. However, I find that it is an incredible source of creativity and that it allows you to develop artistic projects much more efficiently, and to overcome your fears. I move forward faster. And I love speed. A work of art is a work of art, it will be always an explicitly even if you make it more popular because there’s always one original piece.
SM: You are recently sharing content around your pregnancy: intimate thoughts on the physical process you are living. How has your audience reacted to this?
Indeed; I decided to share openly my pregnancy as an artist because I realised after having organised a talk with artist mothers and women who wanted to become mothers that it was still a very taboo subject in our sector.
Many women hide their children in the art world.
There are very few artist residencies that accept children and this divides women.
The art world has been for centuries a male environment in which women's practice has been invisible. I myself have had little female art education.
I sincerely think that even today it is a feminist act to assume my pregnancy as a painter and to share the ups and downs of this period while showing that it does not prevent me from working, from being efficient. I believe that many women need to have examples to help them get through this period and listen to their instincts. So I do it. And you see... I'm starting some great projects during this pregnancy and I'm seeing messages from women telling me that I'm doing them good, that the truth is still important. So I'm proud of my commitment and of having integrated this important subject in my communication.
SM: Three accounts on Instagram you find creatively interesting.
Lately I’ve followed
https://instagram.com/hugotoro_?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
https://instagram.com/benchyparis?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
https://instagram.com/apartamentomagazine?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
https://instagram.com/bound_magazine?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
SM: What recent opportunities/projects have presented to you because of your Socials?
I can't reveal the beautiful projects that are coming up on the collaboration side yet, but I'm being exhibited the day after I give birth by Artwork in Promise for a two-week show during which I'll be presenting an intimate piece of work that I won't be showing on social networks.
I like the idea that some of the work is only visible in real life and as I will be absent it will give the viewer the freedom to lose themselves in it as they wish.
