The founder

Christine Boulanger

« I started to sketch my first portraits because I wanted to know better the people I live with, I work with, those I pass by everyday without really looking at them. »

2015 : a key year, nothing will ever be the same again.

 

« I needed beauty. I wanted to offer a new way of opening our eyes, of allowing ourselves to pay attention, kindly and respectfully. »

Christine Boulanger starts visiting her neighbours to get to know them, draw their portraits and tell their stories. The opening of the Rosa Parks station during the 2016 Nuit Blanche is her first event.

The portraits of local residents are projected on the corridors walls. The station, a place people just pass through, becomes a place where people meet: they stop walking, they start talking.

She founds Visages d’en Faces and her digital pad becomes her favourite tool.

« My studio is in my purse all the time! I have painted sets, murals and pictures on canvas but it’s all very cumbersome. I love to travel light… »

The approach of Visages d’en Faces is to draw portraits, tell stories and share them for people to meet and talk. It is an invitation to view oneself and the other differently. It is an experience that adds value to the individual and the group.

« Listening, looking, understanding: three essential skills to do my job with passion and do it right. »

« Whenever I meet someone, I look for the expression that will allow them to see themselves differently yet recognize themselves and to let themselves be seen in a new light. I also write those stories I glimpse in the eyes of the models, stories that a drawing is not enough to grasp. »

With a degree from The Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM), Christine was a consultant and a development manager for more than 10 years. Her corporate experiences made her realize how little we know about the people we work with.

Yet, we all come from different walks of life, we all have different ways of expressing ourselves, a unique personality… We need to know ourselves and the others better to build up a group, commit ourselves and cooperate efficiently and calmly.

Her parents, a corporate film maker and a mediator trained in the Gordon approach (active listening and conflict resolution), passed on to her a way of “doing things together” and a taste for art and psychology.

Christine can draw. She graduated from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Appliqués (ENSAAMA). But Visages d’en Faces is not about drawing, it is about paying attention.

My portrait work highlights that extra touch of soul, gives a special feel to change perspectives on those we live with. They are true-to-life yet they are my interpretation. I aim to encapsulate life in a gaze, not to describe the person. In the stories, I share a moment.

Christine Boulanger