Christian Feltin, The Imprint, 2022, Acrylique

Christian Feltin – Painting as a Path to Self-Discovery The only rule: to have none. This is what drives artist Christian Feltin. A bold challenge for this former Parisian architect and designer, who spent his life adhering to the constraints of his profession and now, as a painter, seeks to follow only his inspirations. Choosing abstraction becomes his way of breaking free from the figurative foundations of the academic training he received during his architectural studies. This same longing for freedom led him to leave the capital for the south of France, where the tranquility of the region helps him shed the stress of Parisian life. His surroundings deeply influence him, shaping a body of work that blends spontaneity with meticulous gestures that can also explode with intensity. For Christian Feltin, painting is also a way to reconnect with his roots—those of his maternal Vietnamese grandparents. Having grown up in a Western environment, he describes himself as a "quarteron" (one-quarter Vietnamese) and sees painting as a means of reclaiming and embracing the distant Asia that runs through his veins. This connection manifests in the colors he chooses—black, red, and gold—shades deeply embedded in Asian aesthetics, from lacquered furniture to calligraphy scrolls. This ancient art form is omnipresent in his work, but rather than traditional ink, he employs acrylic paint. He strips signs of their linguistic function, emphasizing their plasticity and graphic power, constructing abstract architectures or creating fluid, airy forms. One might think of Zao Wou-Ki, who liberated calligraphy from writing, or Pierre Soulages, who turned black into an endless well of color. On a white background, Feltin’s personal and universal signs emerge, their reliefs interacting with ambient light. His pictorial material is softened and enriched by walnut stain, which he favors for its binding properties and its range of color nuances, whether used pure or diluted. This allows him to balance the weight of thick textures with warmth and softness. His work plays with contrast—the bold presence of paint strokes and thick layers alongside the delicate fragility of transparencies. This diversity of materials and textures makes painting, for Christian Feltin, a kind of instinctive and generous "cooking of the heart." And like any meticulous chef, he classifies his work with a rigorous system, even as his paintings remain free. He organizes his vast collection of canvases and works on paper into multiple series, using an abstract and almost scientific terminology designed to avoid influencing the viewer’s perception. Instead of the conventional "Untitled" label that many artists use, Feltin assigns a letter and a number to each piece, an archivist’s or documentalist’s method. Each series corresponds to specific inspirations or artistic choices—such as the integration of aluminum (Series R and 7T) or the fixation of object imprints on canvas (Series O). This chronological system also reveals the evolution of his work: originally figurative, depicting beaches and forests, it has progressively moved toward increasing abstraction, exploring landscapes not of the external world, but of the mind. Yet, despite his quick and spontaneous painting style—alternating between bursts of energy and careful application—Feltin does not approach his canvas without direction. He allows time for contemplation and absorption before projecting his ideas onto the surface. With 19 series and over 260 paintings, Christian Feltin's work is a testament to liberation. The liberation of a Parisian who sought a calmer existence in the South of France; of an architect who broke free from rigid rules to let his brush dance with mood and emotion, unrestrained by structure; of a man transcending his Western upbringing to rediscover an ancestral Asian heritage; and of calligraphy, freed from language to merge with other materials and express the impulses of his soul. It is an invitation to embrace this same freedom, to explore our own inner landscapes, which, through his art, become a little bit ours as well. Bertrand Naivin