Born with contemporary art, I have been riding this wave of freedom ever since. I love taking everything apart… and then putting it back together. Most of the time it works… sometimes it doesn’t. Recently, I deconstructed gouaches by Pascal Forthuny, then reassembled them; it works… or not.
For this occasion, my pseudonym was Nadine Forthuny.
For my first exhibition, in April 1987, at the 4th Salon des jeunes artistes in Paris, I won first prize for sculpture with my round, contemplative figures. I had adopted the nickname my friends gave me: Nana. So many odd questions and so much teasing over that alias, which was simply short for my first name. Between Zola, Niki de Saint Phalle and sanitary pads, I heard it all!
And so came a succession of pseudonyms, depending on my work, my exhibition venues, and my moods: Smelina, Nadine Willems, Rosy Martoll, LLotram, 20008, Ixis, Martolli, Nadine Forthuny, Madame Martoll…
I had my few hours of « glory » in 1998, with a fountain entitled Les Règles de l’Art (a pun: règles means both “rules” and “periods”), which was censored during an exhibition in Paris.
I created this sculpture with unusual speed, without thinking and without knowing what it meant. I was shocked by the violence of the reactions, particularly by the accusations that I was deliberately provoking people. This was proof that, at the time, menstruation was still a taboo subject.
In a flash, this censorship opened the doors to Paris’s alternative art spaces (thank you!): Le musée Adzak in the 14th arrondissement, Le squat artistique de La Grange aux Belles in the 10th arrondissement, and Le Dépôt Matignon in the 8th arrondissement… My work was featured in articles in Charlie Hebdo, Union, and Le Parisien… and I gave interviews on Radio Libertaire.
I had been unable to explain the meaning of this sculpture. the will-o’-the-wisp flickered out, and in 1999 I left for Corsica for a year of reflection. I stayed!
On this beautiful island, I moved from clay and resin to metal, making furniture and lamps. At the same time, I explored photography and video, before turning to painting in 2005.
Eventually, I found meaning in it, put that meaning into words, and imagined a story: La Clé, inspired by the fountain sculpture that had caused a little ink to flow, if not blood.
I turned this story into a book, then published it online on a website I built especially for the occasion.
By 2016, everything was « settled ».
Since then, I have continued painting, here in Corsica, my alternative paradise.