Oscar Guess

My artistic practice revolves around drawing and painting. I draw inspiration from my photographic archives and images I observe in my daily life. Drawing allows me to create a direct link between form and the materialization of my ideas, whether they concern painting or volume.
As a silent observer, I am fascinated by people’s physiognomy and their way of inhabiting space. I often depict close ones, but also anonymous figures who have become familiar through observation. These portraits are traces of meaningful encounters, fragmented memories nourished by intimate narratives that can be read aloud.
My reflections on lack and lost time took shape in a master’s thesis on the personification of Absence in Art. During my experience as a gallery attendant at the Centre Pompidou, I observed moments of contemplation that I translated into photography and drawing. These anonymous and silent scenes continue to nourish my research today.
I seek to create a dialogue between familiar faces and anonymous figures through drawing, volume, colors, and word – all serving as means to evoke a sensitive memory.

Project supported by the NID, New Imaginaries of Drawing/Hermès.