Dyan Lay calls herself an “illustratienne”, a word derived from “illustratrice” the French translation of illustrator. This linguistic originality sets the tone of a universe made of fantasy. The artist, who masters figurative art, seems to be even be more motivated by turning it around. First initiated by graphism, she has gained experience through drawing, most notably by illustrating the three volumes of “Billy”, Magali Laurent’s science-fiction novel. The artist has then expending her art through painting. Her pictorial sketches, made with oil on wood, portrays characters whose nascent laugh or deep gaze are captured with an astonishing sense of reality. Nothing fancy here but more a way to put movement and emotion to a striking pose.

Using wood or canvas as a support, Dyan Lay has been moving towards a form of surrealism. Her characters are always true to the original. The artist’s original touch come from her use of symbols and coded staging. This fantasy is her way to create an art from another space, form another time. This is the same approach that Dyan Lay has used in the “Mice paintings” serie. But this time the model is no longer a human being but some of the most famous paintings in art history: Leonard da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa”, Johannes Vermeer’s “Milkmaid”, Sandro Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus”.

At first sight, the shapes, colors and lights are all identifiable but when looking more closely, one detail emerges…Characters’ faces are all replaced by mice’s faces. Their face become longer and thinner, noses are smaller and eyes bigger, and ears appears through the hairs. This is “pastiche” art at its finest.

Some paintings from the “Mice paintings”’ collection will be exhibited by Mecenavie at the Art Shopping art show at the Carroussel du Louvre from May 25^th to May 27^th.

Artist’s website.