Christophe Mert

Ever since I was a child, I have felt the urge to express myself through drawing. Over the years, the passion for drawing has given way to an externalization of my feelings through painting. For a while, I mainly talked about my environment (my family, the scenes of the Martinican cultural landscape). Then I wanted my painting to help me formulate my questions about my culture, my identity. Also, certain references to Africa began to appear in my works. Being in perpetual questioning, my introspection leads me to our Amerindian heritage, which is not visible on a daily basis but which undeniably participates in our balance. My quest for identity has allowed me to discover all the components that make up my people and to consider that I belong to a multicultural society. Having become aware that this plural identity was our strength and should be included in my work, I seek by all means to make it appear in my work. To do this, in order to produce a plural and balanced work, my supports, materials and techniques are multiple. Certain colours also play a codified role in the composition of my work: yellow = energy; red = strength and dignity; white = ancestral; green = family and fertility; blue = knowledge and knowledge. Not wanting to lose sight of the fact that painting is for me a mode of expression that allows me to externalize my feelings while having fun, I compose by moving from abstract to figurative, one mixing with the other to create a harmony (man lé pran pié-mwen, é man ka pran'y!). My creation is divided between reflection, research, and expression. Martinique in all its diversity is my primary source of inspiration. It is by discovering its history, by seeing myself as I am, that I was able to open my creation to the outside world. Through painting, I want to communicate with elsewhere while privileging my Martinican origins. Because this country, with its complex background, offers me a very wide cultural richness. For a few years now, there has been a character in my work that I call "Marcaraïmôn'", Martinique. Caribbean. World. My multiple identity is thus affirmed in my composition with: Martinique as roots, the Caribbean as a trunk and the World as branches.

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