I never consciously set out to become an artist. It emerged at the age of 40.
I paint from inner visions and intense emotions impossible to express in words. Metaphorically, I see myself as a space traveler in constant motion and mutation. My work is an extension and a clarification of my creative reflections and self-discovery.
Being an artist propelled me onto new paths of gratitude: to value the “unique individual within myself and others”.
A work of art only exists when it is seen, a reciprocal dance between the work and its beholder. Yet, beneath this apparent simplicity lies a profound truth: art is an optical illusion that strives to faithfully mirror the emotional and psychological landscapes of both the artist and, through a kind of osmosis, the observer. To me, this is the hidden, mystical science of art.
In any case, when a person examines and discovers this magic, he or she becomes potentially aware of what story the artist is actually narrating and how deeply it resonates within their own experience.
Magic and Virtuosity
I wanted to unveil the experience of being thrust into a colossal cauldron of inescapable conditioning as a child.
I watched my soul seized by these extraordinary forces we call upbringing, education, or simply life. I wanted to find a way to translate it and free myself from it.
We change from moment to moment. To me, art is an astonishing mirror. What we see in it is our projected self. In that encounter, the viewer turns inward, free to explore their inner world in complete privacy, as the boundary between observer and observed suddenly dissolves.
Consequently, art becomes an occult science, and the artist's skill lies in anonymity and invisibility, shielded from human prejudice and ignorance.
In truth, the artist is the gifted psychiatrist of this world, impacting lives without direct intervention or acknowledgment.
Since 2012, I use photography in my work. I continue to explore digital art to create works combining all media at my disposal. I call this process Aquadigigraphy.
I have long explored the mediums of language, forms, behaviors, color, and patterns—across their many frequencies and atmospheres.
To me, the true spirit of an artist lives in their ideas. They must be refined, tested, and taken to their limits. From my perspective, medium and technique are subordinate to ideas.
Ideas are the hidden fuel of cognitive transformation—of awareness itself.
The big bang may very well have been an idea. When their time comes, ideas break into the fabric of being and reorganize it. Ideas are free, freer than art in my view. Art simply gives them a form and a voice.
Only when I step beyond the concerns of daily living does my full creative potential emerge. Without the courage to embrace one's own voice, art can risk becoming repetition of existing ideas and techniques, lacking vitality and originality. I can say that art was the beginning of an awakening.
Philippe Benichou is an American artist. His mother, Arlette Oger, was a Beaux-Arts professor in France and a painter. Philippe formally studied with well-known art educator and sculptor Francis Coelho, in San Francisco, CA. Exhibitions of his work have taken place worldwide in more than nine countries including those at MOCA Museum of Computer Art in New York and his paintings are found in many public and private collections in the U.S. and around the world.
He is the recipient of several awards and mentions for his artistic merit. He continues to study art as it relates to self-knowledge, individual empowerment and the healing potential of color in art. Read More...
