In her figurative paintings, drawings and sculptures, Claire Tabouret scrutinises identity and takes a closer look at childhood and its enigmas, the individual isolated or within a group. Sometimes covered, made up or disguised, children and women with mute faces stand upright in front of the viewer like frozen frames. The recent immersive mural realised at Fabrègues Castle in the south of France is an example of the timeless and sometimes carnivalesque universe that the artist creates in her paintings. Often coated with a primary fluorescent layer, and realised on large-scale canvas, her works, whose tonalities are sometimes dark and sometimes acidic, as in the ensemble of the Débutantes, exude theatrical enigma. Before the representation of groups and characters, which may recall those of Romantic painting, Claire Tabouret was often interested in aquatic diurnal and nocturnal landscapes. During this time, she notably realised the 'Maisons Inondées', the series which brought her to recognition, as well as the ensemble entitled Migrants. Originating in internet or archival found photographs, her canvases are tainted with personal experience, unfurling a universe of stories and memories.

Text courtesy Almine Rech.