Vaea Bourgeois

About

I’m a French artist, producer and creative director, born in Tahiti, raised in Tokyo and now based on the French Riviera. Working through photography, moving image, sculptural adornment and visual storytelling, I explore transformation, symbolism and the quest for inner sovereignty, drawing on art history, mythology, alchemy and Jungian archetypes.

Statement

I make images that are beautiful, but I want them to do more than that. I want them to stop you for a moment. Beauty is very important to me, but not just for beauty’s sake. It is a way into the work. It draws you in, and then the story, symbolism and emotion begin to reveal themselves. Transformation, symbolism and the search for inner sovereignty run through my work. I’m interested in the moments when one state gives way to another: when identity breaks and shifts, when the body becomes symbol, and when the landscape reflects something happening deep within. My visual language is inspired by art history, mythology, alchemy, literature, fashion and Jungian archetypes. These references mix instinctively in my work. I use them to tell stories about metamorphosis, about women and the different ways we change throughout our lives. The way I work is very much about building a world around each project. I begin with a story, and then develop everything around it. I bring together photography, moving image, the body, costume, sculptural adornment, craft and landscape, as well as the creative and technical team the project needs. It takes a village! Collaboration is essential to the way I work, but the concept, narrative and overall visual direction remain at the heart of my role from beginning to end. My path into art happened organically. It wasn’t planned. I originally trained and worked in journalism before studying floral design and beginning to create crowns, masks and botanical sculptures. Over time, those objects became part of larger photographic narratives, allowing me to tell stories about women. I followed my instinct and my heart, and one thing led to another. Nature has become increasingly central to my practice. I’m less interested in using it as a backdrop than as a metaphor for a state of being or a stage in the process of metamorphosis. A forest, a root, water, earth or light can carry as much meaning for me as a costume or an expression. For me, those elements become ways of expressing vulnerability, transformation, strength and, ultimately, inner sovereignty. I have recently completed SYLVÆ: The Forest Within, a new photographic project created in Brittany. The work has not yet been released publicly, and I am beginning to share it selectively while taking the time to decide how and where I want the wider series to be seen.