Multidisciplinary artist Loup Blaster is currently creating her first fresco for the IC.ON.IC visual arts festival, which is being held in Amiens until November 11, 2024. A “recognition” for the 32-year-old from Calais, whose committed work is expressed through a multitude of mediums, from music to illustration, poetry, comics and music video production.
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The gesture is precise. With a brushstroke, Loup Blaster defines the color of his character’s pants. It will be red. Bright. With one foot raised, he dances with others, caught up in the whirlwind of a joyful round. The scene is inspired by a Breton festnoz that the artist attended a few months earlier.There was a very strong energy of sharing, an intergenerational mix of people from all social backgrounds.” she remembers.
Since September 12, Loup Blaster has been painting her fresco entitled “La ronde” on the walls of a former stable located behind the Maison du Théâtre in Amiens, as part of the IC.ON.IC visual arts festival. The opportunity for her to “discover cultural life“of the city and of”meet people“.
“I’m not alone on my wall, I have a theatre behind it,” rejoices Calais artist Loup Blaster, who is creating a fresco in the Saint-Leu district of Amiens as part of the IC.ON.IC 2024 festival.
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© Céline Brégand / FTV
His characters are white, black, pink, purple, some boys wear heels, and on the sides, two little devils hide behind the curtains while an actress takes the spotlight on stage. Loup Blaster took care to adapt his colors to those of the fresco painted by the Franco-Peruvian artist Hydran in 2021 a little further in the courtyard, in order to instill a certain coherence between the two works.
A few months ago, when Fabiana De Moraes, in charge of the visual arts project at the cultural action department of the Amiens metropolitan area, suggested to Loup Blaster that he submit a file, the 32-year-old artist did not hesitate. And his project was selected.Loup quickly grasped the challenges of this place. The notion of ‘building community’ makes sense in the Saint-Leu district“, points out Fabiana De Moraes, seduced by the multidisciplinary works and the personality of Loup Blaster.
A mutual crush.I felt very recognized by joining the festival.“, underlines the artist from Calais. Although she has already painted two frescoes in her home town, they are not on display for everyone to see.”My work in Calais is very invisible because of my commitment [auprès des personnes exilées, ndlr]. I am blacklisted by the city hall“, denounces the one who defends values of inclusion and sharing.”It is not possible to say that Art should not be engaged.” she insists.
Musician, singer, DJ, music video director, illustrator, cartoonist, photographer, poet, tattoo artist… Loup Blaster has a visceral need to create and has been skillfully exploring various mediums and art styles for around ten years. In 2022, she notably created the cover of the live album We finally found a date by Maxime the Forester.
The one who defines herself as “a multifaceted, multidisciplinary artist and an audiovisual visual artist“refuses to choose just one art form. But shines in all of them.”I don’t like having just one practice and one professional environment. […] I also don’t like having just one recipe, that people expect that from an artist.“
I believe that we should always be able to express ourselves as we wish. Some people are sometimes afraid of not having a strong enough identity. For me, this will be built over time.
Loup Blaster, multidisciplinary artist
But Loup Blaster still shows a slight preference for music and stage performance.I like to sing, to compose with other musicians. But it’s a complicated pace of life that requires a permanent presence, it’s very stressful.“, observes the one who has already released several notable and committed pieces like “Awake 2 morrow” and “1 for the One”.
An art she would like to explore further.”I would like to be able to release music very soon, work for myself. I will prepare that this winter.she explains. But I would like to be accompanied by a structure, a concert hall or someone in production“, explains the woman who, on certain other projects, was able to benefit from the support of the Picardie Regional Contemporary Art Fund (Frac).
Daughter of a violin maker father and a mother who was a psychologist for people with disabilities, Louise Druelle (aka Loup Blaster) grew up surrounded by her parents’ artist friends and her friends who were members of music groups. Enrolled in the workshops of the Calais Museum of Fine Arts from the age of five and in the music school where she played the violin and double bass, the young girl knew very quickly that she wanted to become an artist and studied animated film.My parents raised us with a taste for the arts and the freedom to express ourselves. When I was little, my mother explained to me that art could go beyond language and that we could convey ideas through emotion. These are sentences that have left their mark on me.” she remembers.
“I like the idea of doing something universal,” says Loup Blaster, a multidisciplinary artist from Calais, who is participating in the 2024 edition of the IC.ON.IC festival in Amiens.
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© Céline Brégand / FTV
Phrases that have resonated in his adult life. Loup Blaster has organized several drawing and music workshops with exiled people.We understood each other through the energy of art even though we didn’t speak the same language. And that’s beautiful.“, marvels the artist. She has thus composed with several of them.
It gives them dignity. They’re not just people we should feel sorry for even though they have so many talents. We need to highlight them for who they are.
Loup Blaster, multidisciplinary artist
In November 2023, Loup Blaster released its first fanzine “Je suis le feu”, accompanied by a single of the same name, which makes visible both the daily life of exiles on the Franco-British border and the work of the Woodyard volunteers who prepare and distribute wood to exiles on a daily basis.It’s a small, very free-form book, from punk and anarchist circles, which has an experimental side that I really like.“, points out the artist.
I wanted to do publishing because it’s a way to get into people’s homes a little bit. A fanzine is easily distributed, people can make it their own, and make it travel.
Loup Blaster, multidisciplinary artist
A second fanzine, produced in collaboration with exiled people and associations, is currently in preparation.
The cause of the exiles came to her quite naturally.”I’ve seen this since I was a child. In my family, we tried to understand why they were there. When you feel empathy and you inform yourself, you can’t turn a blind eye.“, says Loup Blaster. In 2016, she made it the subject of her first short film, entitled “Al Hurriya, Freedom, Liberté”.
To raise awareness about what is happening in Calais, Louise Druelle also ran for the Senate and the Legislative elections on the environmentalist list. And since 2021, she has been an opposition municipal councilor at Calais town hall.It is very complicated to change things. Faced with 100% repressive politics, I try to be the voice of those who do not agree with it, but it has little impact on the situation“, she laments. “After, It’s better to do this than to say nothing and do nothing. I couldn’t! Especially considering the money it costs and the human losses“, she believes. So Loup Blaster uses his art to raise awareness, alert and make exiled people visible.
“La ronde” by Loup Blaster is one of the 12 new walls created by the artists of the 4th edition of the IC.ON.IC festival. While some have already finished their frescoes, others, like Loup Blaster, are creating them right now in the streets of Amiens. Curious visitors can even come and see the artists at work and chat with them. The visual arts festival, which mixes urban art, contemporary tours and video mapping, ends on November 11, 2024.
