Dominique Lecomte

After a sabbatical year spent to take Art courses at the School of Images in Epinal (France), Dominique starts exhibiting oil and acrylic on canvas, then etchings. He also travels a lot and in 1994 he goes to the USA to teach French and Philosophy in an international school. Gradually, he specializes in landscapes made with relief printing techniques and watercolors but he keeps using photography as a visual travel log. His works do not describe particular places but the ideas related to them. They can be found in private and public collections in France, the USA, Canada, England, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Brazil, Japan, and in various galleries in France and the USA.

Statements:

It always amazes me to create a landscape from contrasts of black and white and it is the reason why I mainly use relief-printing techniques as my means of expression. I like the work with the gouges on the wood or the linoleum, then the expectation that precedes the discovery of the result when I do the first printing. I use watercolor to reinforce the impressions that the landscape made on me.

I never work on the spot; on the spot, I take photographs, I sense the colors, the surroundings, the sounds, and it is only later and far away that I can use what I have seen. I need to keep a distance between the subject and me to be able to grasp its core meaning and in this respect, I agree with Zen painting techniques - meditate in front of a landscape and then draw it by heart - even if I do not follow them exactly. I want to express a memory more than reproduce a detailed scenery.

I am drawn to the American West by its immensity and its colors. It is the American dream with its pioneers, Indians, wild and rebel nature, the scent of adventure and strangeness that still inhabit it, especially in the huge national parks. The East, more civilized, keeps vast chunk of mystery with its lakes and forests as far as the eye can see; its coastal landscapes are full of charm. Shadows and lights are strong and well fitted for a work in black and white. The cities are a permanent spectacle with theirs buildings standing high above the land and their colorful crowds.

"Your works have a fresh quality and are an interesting combination of media"
Susanne Meterko, Wrubel Gallery

"Your prints are very appealing"
William Greenbaum, William Greenbaum Fine Art