10 Questions with Naoual Peleau

Naoual Peleau is a French artist, born in Spring 1992. Creative since childhood, her interest focused on visual art in her early teens. She obtained her degree in fine art from La Sorbonne in 2014 and joined the photography school of Toulouse the following year. She graduated in 2018.

Her practice is largely experimental, with a focus on manipulating, transforming, and even destroying the image and its support. As a self-professed clumsy person, she embraces accidents and mistakes as an integral part of her creative process. Her research aims to strike a balance between accidental creation and successful experience. She is particularly drawn to fragile elements and is keen to witness their metamorphosis.

In an intimate and autobiographical practice, she deals with subjects such as solitude, death, or the relation with her body.

She works and lives in Toulouse.

naoualpeleau.com | @na_bnnd

INTERVIEW

First of all, introduce yourself to our readers. What first drew you to visual arts, and how has your creative process evolved over the years?

My name is Naoual (pronounced Nawel). I'm a French artist born in the spring of 1992. I was born into an artistic family; my mother is a painter, and my dad is a French teacher passionate about comic books. Visual art has always been part of my life, as far as I can remember. I was naturally drawn to creation as I was surrounded by different types of art: books, paintings, or sculptures. 
I started in my childhood with painting and watercolor, then I switched to photography when I was a teenager because of its fast connection with the world around me. 

How did your studies at La Sorbonne and the photography school in Toulouse shape your artistic vision?

I started at La Sorbonne when I was only 19. I had a very shy approach to creation. I was homeschooled for 3 years of my bachelor, which allowed me to learn and grow with a lot of freedom; I could experiment with many different techniques.It shaped my artistic vision in a very playful and free way. 
I went to photography school just afterward with a more precise idea of what I wanted to create and what I needed to learn, such as analog techniques and how to create visual stories. This school really showed me how to find a personal style. 

Your work is very experimental, often involving manipulation and destruction. Can you describe how you approach the balance between accidents and intentional creation?

When I start creating, I have a semi precise idea of the result I'm expecting. Sometimes it takes several tries until I feel I went through my idea and found the limit between creation and destruction, which I consider a form of creation. I try tokeep it simple. The final image shows the process that leads to its creation, as the journey is as important as the destination. 

How do accidents or mistakes during your creative process influence the final outcome of your work?

I like the unexpected. Even if I have a precise idea of the final outcome, I leave a lot of space for everything that could happen.
I'm influenced by the way of working of the painter Bob Ross, who used to say that we don't make mistakes, we have happy accidents, and I live by those wise words. 
The accidents involved in the creation show that some things are not in our control, and it's important to know how and when to let go. Even in the meaning of my creation, it's about things we can't control, like death, for example. 

Your work often deals with intimate themes like solitude, death, and your relationship with your body. What drives you to explore these deeply personal subjects?

It's a matter of sensibility and a will to go deep into the human psyche.
I'm influenced by artists who also used to work around these subjects, such as Francesca Woodman, Frida Kahlo, or Ana Mendieta. Even if it can be very personal, a lot of people can relate to solitude, the fear of getting old, or a conflicted relation with the body. Through my art, I really hope I can help people who could be struggling. Perhaps by showing things in a different light, or just by telling us that we are not alone towards those issues. 

You've mentioned being fascinated by fragile things. How does this fascination influence your artistic choices?

This fascination drives me to create delicate objects. For example, with my project, Dead Leaves, I deal with the fear of getting old and the fragility of life. It seems obvious to use a fragile item such as a dead leaf. 
For my project Ghosts, which is about memory loss, I consider souvenirs as very fragile, so I represented them in an evanescent way. Even the balance between creation and destruction is fragile. This fascination influences my choice of subject as well as how I create.

How do you decide when a piece is finished, given the unpredictable nature of your creative process?

I don't really think about my pictures as finished pieces. It's a feeling most of the time. It's a matter of balance and asking myself, how far do I need to go to tell my story? I often think less is more, and I like to keep it simple and direct so it's easily understandable. My pictures are organized in series and share the same meaning. The harmony between them helps me understand when I don't need to work more on them.

Are there any upcoming projects or themes that you're excited to explore in your future work?

Currently, I'm working on pain through the figure of the fakir. I'm developing a project with different techniques, such as short videos, photography, and sculptures. In the future, I would love to go in a more documentary direction and work on the representation of the trans community. 

How do you see your experimental approach evolving as you continue your artistic journey?

I think I'm at the very beginning of my artistic journey. I want to give me some time with my experiments to combinedifferent techniques, such as painting and photography, or maybe video. I see myself evolving around analog techniques, natural and ecological ways of printing pictures, and handmade books. 

And lastly, where can our readers see your work next? Do you have any exhibition or project you would like to share with our public?

My work is visible on my website, naoualpeleau.com, which is updated often. I currently don't have planned exhibitions, but I'm working on showing my work in festivals and galleries during the winter of 2024 and summer of 2025.

Artist’s Talk

Al-Tiba9 Interviews is a promotional platform for artists to articulate their vision and engage them with our diverse readership through a published art dialogue. The artists are interviewed by Mohamed Benhadj, the founder & curator of Al-Tiba9, to highlight their artistic careers and introduce them to the international contemporary art scene across our vast network of museums, galleries, art professionals, art dealers, collectors, and art lovers across the globe.