Selfportait, 2016. Paris.
Clothilde Matta is a French photographer and visual artist born in 1991. Her artistic practice is deeply influenced by her initial training as an actress, maintaining a close connection to the performing arts, particularly to the physical engagement of the body. Her imagery unfolds in the theatrical tension between separation and continuity, of bodies and minds. Desire, as a quest for continuity and an acknowledgment of the separation between beings, plays a central role in her work. This erotic desire, often manifesting in the form of images—whether through fantasy—characterizes both carnal love and the love of mystics. Through her exploration of the possibilities of communion available to the human being, and her nostalgic longing for unity, Clothilde Matta's work delves into the timeless realm of the human condition.
“My work originates from the intimate, blending my personal story with universal ones, shaped by events that moved, marked, or intrigued me. I draw inspiration from mythology, popular beliefs, religious events, and history. Focusing on often unexplored details, I blur the line between reality and imagination, evoking the depths of our intimate memory. Through a poetic exploration of desire, beauty, and the mystery of existence, my work weaves connections between the divine and the earthly, the invisible and the tangible. I explore the sacred-profane duality, seeking where these realms intersect and influence one another.”
In 2018, she exhibited her photographs at the Modern'art Gallery in Versailles. The same year, she won the Young Talents Photo Prize at the Fotofever fair and the Audience Award for her series Jealousy of Matter, showcased at the Carrousel du Louvre. At the same time, she lent her voice to Franco-Italian films and documentaries. In 2019, she was invited to Kyoto by Wacoal for a solo exhibition as part of Kyotographie, where she presented her series Transfiguration for the first time. She also had a solo exhibition at Galerie 15 in Toulon and participated in the 2019 YOUMEIN festival in Tangier, supported by American Legacy for her video ELLES, Tanger, in collaboration with Nina Cholet. In October 2019, she shows their work at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie during the FIAC, then in Nice at the OVNI festival. In September 2021, she presented her second film ELLES, Rome and participated in Kyotographie with the ELLES project, supported by the MEP (Maison Européenne de la Photographie) due to the France-Japan season during the exhibition Women Artists from the MEP Studio: New Perspectives in Film and Photography from France. As part of the MEP x MADE collaboration, she also offered a selection of limited-edition prints. In August 2022, she was an artist-in-residence at La Chapelle Saint Antoine, an artist residency located on the island of Naxos in Greece. In July, she will take part in the collective exhibition Les Fleurs du bal, supported by the KSBP studio, with an immersive visual and sound installation inspired by Marcel Proust's Combray and her 2019 trip to Japan. Her work was published in the international magazine EXIT, based in Madrid, in April 2023.
Selfportrait, 2018. Paris.