Sylvie Riou Marillaud’s work is truly unique, refined and poetic. Born in Poitiers in 1974, it was at the age of 16 that Sylvie Riou Marillaud moved to the Island of Oléron, on the Atlantic coast, to complete her baccalaureate in artistic studies. In 1995, Sylvie was admitted to the Beaux-Arts de Nantes and studied at La Sorbonne in Paris to obtain her diplomas in Arts Studies. During her studies, she exhibited in various emerging art exhibitions at the Alain Le Bras gallery in Nantes and at the Contemporary Art Center in Toulouse.

A partir de l’an 2000, en parallèle de sa création artistique, Sylvie enseigne l’art dans les écoles puis elle utilise ses talents d’entrepreneure et de graphiste pour créer la marque de vêtements « La Coti » qui honore l’île adoptive qui l’a tant inspirée au fil des ans.

In 2018, Sylvie sold her brand to devote herself exclusively to art.

Since these early years of study, Sylvie has pursued her personal research which led her to create the unique technique she currently uses.

First, she photographs the rich outdoor environment of the island, which she reworks digitally and then transfers to wood. The pigmentation of the image naturally embeds itself in the grains of the wood and thus begins its creative process based on the application of various painting techniques. Once finished, the final image becomes a “mille-feuille” of artistic techniques that combine photography with painting… or painting with photography perhaps? The genre of the medium no longer exists.

Why this black band?

The black band that regularly adorns the base of the works is directly influenced by the architecture of the houses on the island. Typically, the facades of houses on the island of Oléron are painted white, and have a black band painted with tar at the bottom of the walls to protect against humidity. The radiance of the island sun rests on these black and white walls and awakens the intensity of all the surrounding colors. This retinal experience influences the way she composes her work.