In a contemporary art scene marked by digital immediacy and synthetic pigments, Alice Magne embodies poetic and ecological resistance. Based in Lyon, this visual artist and graduate of Villa Arson has made the bold choice of "slow color."
Her work does not come from industrial tubes but from a deep physical interaction between raw fiber and the plant kingdom. Alice transforms her studio into a research laboratory where she orchestrates the metamorphosis of logwood, dahlias, and oxalis. Under her hands, the canvas becomes a receptive skin that captures the invisible pulse of the seasons and the soil.
The core of Alice Magne's approach lies in exploring the boundary between art and science. According to critic Julie Chaizemartin, Alice's work resembles a "vegetable Hantaï." Using pressure and steam, she extracts the chromatic essence of flowers to impregnate the canvas, transforming natural alchemy into a rigorous aesthetic discipline.
By subjecting the fabric to a rigorous ritual of successive washings, mordanting, and steam setting, she sculpts ephemeral textures directly onto the fiber. Her signature method, "bouquet dyeing," involves rolling and cooking the fabric with plants to extract their chromatic imprint. This process transforms seasonal fragments into immersive color architectures.
"I seek to let life act with me. My actions are guided by experimentation, leaving room for chance, mistakes, and surprises. It is an experience of presence." Alice Magne
Alice Magne's technical expertise and ethical approach have won over major cultural institutions, confirming her status as a key artist on the eco-responsible scene:
His work is now praised by the international press (Vogue Italia, The Art Newspaper, BeauxArts Magazine) and features in prestigious private collections.
Far from simple figuration, Alice Magne works with color as an environment, making nature an immersive presence rather than a subject. She unfolds her universe through monumental installations and contemplative frames.
From London to Turin, his practice invites viewers to slow down and experience color as a vibrant, organic entity.
Alice Magne's work is an experience of presence. She envisions the canvas as a "receptive skin" capable of capturing the invisible pulse of the earth and the seasons. Her aesthetic, often compared to a form of organic abstraction, transforms fragments of nature into immersive landscapes.
It is not a question of depicting the plant, but of allowing its memory to act on the medium. By working with natural dyes, she places her art within a geological temporality, reminding us that color is a living entity, sensitive to light and the passage of time.
