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Daphné Dejay’s Chromatic World

Thanks to her dual education at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and Cergy-Pontoise, Daphné Dejay has emerged today as a painter-colorist. The artist went through an intense period of black and white photography in which she staged her own body. She has also created numerous illustrations and children’s books, some of which have received significant recognition. However, it is in the art of painted color that she found her fullest expression.

Daphné Dejay’s works are characterized by a generous palette that she applies to the surface of her sculptures. She uses bold and vibrant hues, in a “fauvist” style, to cover her white animal shapes, whether small or large. Her work as a colorist adopts a “handcrafted” approach filled with exuberance, reminiscent of the pictorial tradition of 19th-century polychrome sculpture.

Thus, her use of color on three-dimensional objects serves as an expression of the soul, emotions, and even the vital energy of the animal species, invigorated by the wonder of childhood. In this resolutely contemporary chromatic approach, the artist has, for the past few years, extended her art to urban furniture in the Île-de-France region.

Homage to the Masters

The “Jean d’Art” or “Art Legends” pay tribute to the artists who have influenced her work and shaped her inner world. This series attempts to deconstruct and reassemble all the influences that have contributed to building her sensibility and her own artistic output. It features the rabbit, a lively, humble, and curious creature that has traversed the history of art, symbolizing purity, chastity, fertility, sensuality, and eroticism at various times. Here, the rabbit changes its skin, molts, dives into its burrow, and transforms “in the style” of each creator that the artist wishes to reinterpret. Through this approach, she invites us to rediscover and revisit these artists through her unique creative lens.