Creating with matter: an intuitive approach between abstract painting and contemporary sculpture

Creation has always played a central role in my journey. From a very young age, I felt the need to build, assemble, and understand how an idea could become a tangible object. Metalwork, stained glass, handcrafted pieces, and hand-built forms all fed this early curiosity. Drawing was already part of my daily life, not as an end in itself, but as a way to materialize an intention, to give form to an idea.

Over time, this sensitivity became more defined and naturally guided my educational choices. A fine arts education in graphic design provided me with a solid and structured foundation, but above all, it confirmed a fundamental need: a direct relationship with matter. This is how painting and sculpture became obvious paths, allowing me to reconnect with a more instinctive, freer gesture - one that echoed what had driven me since childhood.

Painting and sculpture as fields of experimentation

In painting, I primarily work with acrylics. This medium appeals to me because of its fast drying time and great versatility. Depending on its consistency, it allows me to move from very smooth effects to thick, almost sculptural textures. Acrylic also offers great freedom in layering without losing precision, while ensuring durability over time.

In sculpture, my work mainly revolves around wood and metal. Wood is a living material, already carrying its own lines, grains, and natural directions. Often, simply following them is enough to reveal a form. Metal, on the other hand, requires a more direct approach. It is a raw and demanding material, yet incredibly liberating once welding techniques are mastered. I am deeply drawn to this duality: wood that guides, metal that is shaped and constrained.

Inspiration: between nature, color, and unpredictability

When I begin a painting or a series, I never try to visualize a precise final result. There is an intention, a general direction, but the work is built primarily through gesture. I let the hand guide the material, accept unpredictability, and allow the painting to reveal itself. This element of surprise is essential to my process.

Color plays a fundamental role in my work. I enjoy exploring chromatic harmonies that follow the logic of the color wheel or evoke natural phenomena such as the iridescence of a rainbow or the reflections of an oil puddle. These are simple, almost ordinary elements, yet they instantly trigger a creative impulse.

Nature remains a constant source of inspiration. Its textures, contrasts, and rhythms influence both my paintings and sculptures. A branch, a leaf, or a vein can inspire a painted line as easily as a sculpted curve. Conversely, my sculptural work also engages with the industrial and mechanical world - metal structures, technical forms, functional logic. This meeting of the organic and the mechanical shapes a large part of my visual language.

An intuitive and evolving creative process

My creative process is never fixed. Most of my works emerge without preliminary sketches, starting with an initial gesture, a first mark. I let materials interact, colors respond to one another, and it is within this spontaneity that balance emerges.

Other pieces begin with a more defined intention. I know the direction I want to take, while deliberately leaving the final result open. The work can evolve, transform, and sometimes move away from the initial idea. I see this evolution as a strength, never a limitation.

Whether in painting or sculpture, there is always an alternation between action and observation. I work, then stop. I step back and let the piece rest. Often, the final touch comes down to an almost imperceptible detail that shifts the whole toward something coherent and complete.

An emotional approach above all

For now, my work does not aim to convey a political or activist message. I do not rule out that possibility in the future, but it is not central to my current approach. What motivates me most is the desire to create something sincere and sensitive, in a world where we increasingly lack the time to pause, look, and feel.

My approach is primarily emotional. I prefer to evoke an impression, an immediate sensation, rather than deliver a fixed message. I like the idea that a color, a movement, or a material can touch someone without explanation, leaving each viewer free to project their own sensitivity.

The artwork as a silent trace

Of course, the idea of leaving a trace is not absent. I hope that some of my works will stand the test of time, continuing to be seen, lived with, and integrated into living spaces, independently of my identity. I find real satisfaction in the idea that an artwork can touch someone, become part of their daily life, and continue its journey on its own.

If, over time, these works also become a testimony of their era, then this naturally becomes part of their continuity.

An evolving aesthetic

My work is primarily abstract. Depending on the series, it may be more minimalist, sometimes geometric, sometimes freer and more instinctive. I also occasionally approach figurative art, always in an interpreted, simplified way, integrated into my abstract language.

I deliberately do not align myself with any specific artistic movement. I prefer to let my aesthetic evolve freely, without confining it to a label. Certain constants remain, the gesture, the material, the vibration of color, but they are meant to transform over time through experience.

Current projects and perspectives

Several series are currently in development, including Éclat and Fragmentation, while leaving room for new explorations. I am also working on larger formats that offer a more immersive dimension, as well as sculptures with more ambitious proportions and advanced techniques.

The objective remains the same: to continue experimenting, evolving, and never settling into a comfort zone, for myself or for the viewer.

This article follows an interview conducted for the Artmajeur platform about my work and artistic approach:https://www.artmajeur.com/fr/magazine/8-rencontres/interview-d-artiste-i-jonathan-pradillon/340129