AmyLee - Parisian Figurative Artist, now in the UK
Born in Nimes in South France, Amylee knew from an early age that she had a love for painting however the compulsion to develop her knowledge of the artistic world didn’t strike until her application and completion of a Master 2 in Applied Arts and Plastic Arts. Part time work in bars had supported her, but her career flourished as she entered the design industry at an agency renowned for decorating trends and fashion. Here she learnt a craft for advanced colour combinations and their ability to influence and suggest mood, as well as a keen eye for textile and texture.
Amylee left her role within the agency in 2008 and spent her days painting whilst searching for a new position. What started as a hobby, quickly catapulted her into a new unexpected direction – several local galleries accepted the work without hesitation, setting the scene for a confident young woman to believe in a dream lain dormant since childhood. In 2015, following the inhumane terror attacks in Paris the artist no longer felt safe nor happy within her home country. With new opportunity in the U.K., Amylee and her partner settled in London; a move which once again introduced her work to a keen audience. Signing with the acclaiming publishing house, Darlington Publishers, the artists glamour pop signature style has enticed new collectors for its heady references to 1970s pattern alongside psychedelic colour.
An interesting by-product of such a combination is the reference to generational belief systems which have evolved with time; exploring attitudes to body art, fashion and graphic design an army of contemporary portraits have been born from Amylees brush. A colour purist, the artist doesn’t mix her paints preferring to apply each acrylic layer untampered from tube to palette, palette to canvas. Using her extensive training at university of master techniques, Amylee glides from bold block colour work in the pantone colour scale to the impressionist dapples to describe the skin tone of her subjects. Once the paint is dried, they are covered with several layers of varnish and eventually framed ready to be sent to one of the international galleries who proudly display her work.
