ELISABETH LAFOLYE-ACOGNY (FRENCH)
Born in France, Elisabeth was accepted to Les Beaux-Arts, a French Art school, where she studied for 2 years before pausing to explore a modeling career in Paris. She has lived in Nantes, Paris, London, Bath, New York, Woodland Hills, and now Santa Barbara where she is currently a Santa Barbara Arts Association member. Traveling abroad took her on extensive stays to the African continent, most frequently to the Ivory Coast and Senegal. Her dream to reside there permanently has not yet materialized, but she keeps Africa close to her heart. The poetry she found in its landscapes, people, music, fabric, colors, and rhythms will always be a strong source of inspiration. While Elisabeth remains interested in various painting styles and subjects, her time in Africa continues to have a resounding influence upon her art and her life.
Color is the reason Elisabeth paints. As a certified hypnotherapist, she often uses self-hypnosis to create a visionary world - then she shares what she sees. Using rich textures, vibrant hues, and strong shapes, color flows constantly into her mind, and her deep awareness of it enhances and transforms her visions with its moves, nuances, contradictions, mixings, clashes, and blends. Her work on plexiglass is, to her, the ideal pairing of transparency and opacity. The color demands to be seen, shining through the transparent “canvas,” and challenging her visions with the medium’s requirement she paints them backward. She has also continued creating her Organic Landscapes series. In these works, she adds mineral decorative effects to innovate and uplift traditional landscapes, illustrating the organic mineral origins of life elements while evolving their reality into a style that is more contemporary. Her work is often fragmented, illustrating the world we are living in today. Defined shapes reflect our boundaries or restrictions, but the energy of curved lines softens the fragmented effect. The use of gold leaf and gold paint, a common theme in all of her paintings, provides signature notes of light and brightness.
Living an authentic life among family and friends in Africa brought Elisabeth an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the beauty of the land and its people. She truly believes that curiosity, a sense of humor, and intelligence are everywhere and can be seen by those who accept them. Even in minimalistic life conditions, with different approaches to life and death - no matter the struggle - the African people still smile, laugh, and, throughout their days, enjoy the simple things in life. This makes an artist think deeply about our ever-needing and constantly complaining Western world. Artists reflect their time in history. With her art, Elisabeth aims to raise a belief in belonging, hopes to foster positivity and encourages togetherness in humanity. She feels that by sharing her visions and the colors she sees, she is adding peace to passion - to create unity and honor harmony. Beyond her curiosity for exploration, adventure, new discoveries, and construction, the colorful intention expressed in her art reflects gratitude towards the complexity and wonder of our planet Earth with simple yet elaborate beauty. Sharing that message with the world is a message of peace and a symbol of her will. In the darkest hours of our lives, Elisabeth believes that color raises hope and brings comfort.
Represented by ACCA Beverly Hills
