Meet the artist: Margaux Carpentier

Like most small children, I loved layering colours onto surfaces and playing with malleable matter, shaping it in any way I wanted. But unlike most children, who lose confidence and interest in visual creation before their teens, I kept making and drawing. My interest was nurtured – I was privileged to grow up in a home where creativity was encouraged, and I was given countless opportunities to explore and experiment.

Looking back, I think I first chose art as an act of resistance against a schooling system I found alienating, painful, and mostly very boring. I continue to choose it for similar reasons: to exist in a sort of parallel world. Creating gives me a way to navigate life when I often feel I don’t know how to engage with it any other way. Art becomes a window, offering unlimited access to colour and pleasure. Even though it comes with its own share of pain and struggle, those trickier feelings can be shaped and given a home outside of me.

“Creation acts as a window, an unlimited access to colour and pleasure.”

Margaux Carpentier

Your work uses a symbolic language that can be read in many ways. How do you develop these symbols?

I have both a conscious and unconscious interest in symbolism. For me, symbols contribute to creating an image in much the same way a poet assembles words into a poem. They offer clues to possible meanings while remaining versatile, with their own stories to tell. Like their role in Tarot, symbols act as mirrors, reflecting back to each individual in ways that align with their personal stories and visions. They are the building blocks of meaning, capable of being combined in an infinite number of ways.

Although I own a few symbol dictionaries, I try not to overthink my use of symbols. Often, they simply emerge from the secret world of our collective unconscious – like a frog suddenly leaping out of foliage. I give them space in my pictures, leaving it up to the viewer to interpret their significance.

I am also quite a private person, and if I’m completely honest, my symbols sometimes serve as a way to express personal feelings and stories in disguise. But that doesn’t mean there’s only one way to interpret my work. I find it deeply satisfying when someone interprets my pictures in their own personal way. It’s like magic – only then does the work truly come alive!

How do you choose your colour palettes, and do certain colours have special meaning for you?

I have always delighted in bright colours and have early memories of being comforted by supermarket aisles because of all the garish packaging (though I find them hard to bear now!). When I create a new piece, I first assemble colours in my head, a bit like a puzzle. I then pick up a box of crayons and see how they really look together, playing with different combinations until I find the perfect one.

“Like their role in Tarot, symbols act as mirrors, reflecting back to each individual in ways that align with their personal stories and visions.”

Margaux Carpentier

How do movement and rhythm influence your art?

I love music and dance – they are fundamental human expressions. Yet, I often feel as though I have no sense of rhythm – or perhaps I have my own peculiar, inharmonious, and offbeat sense of rhythm and coordination. And maybe that’s okay. Maybe we all vibrate at different frequencies.

In my work, I see a recurring tension between weight and lightness – something that has always been present. My creatures are grounded, earthy, and weighty, yet they float with ease and sometimes defy gravity in their gestures. Perhaps this mirrors our existence: suspended between life and death, moving precisely between birth and death, balancing infinite lightness and heaviness.

Art also exists in relationship with time. A picture or sculpture somehow halts time – a movement captured and frozen in paper, clay, or another medium. And yet, it continues to exist beyond its creation. It becomes a trace, a lasting mark left in the world.

Your work is hugely varied! How do various mediums influence your approach?

One week, I’m working at my computer with my cat in my lap; the next, I’m painting a mural in the cold. In between, you might find me in my pottery or printmaking studio. I enjoy this free-jazz-like rhythm – it engages my body in different ways and keeps my interest alive. However, it can also make it challenging to establish a routine, which sometimes leaves me feeling unsettled. It can also feel like each practice doesn’t develop as quickly as I’d like, as it’s often interrupted by other, sometimes all-consuming, projects.

The possibilities of art are endless, and I would find it limiting to choose just one. I feel a thrill when my characters come to life – whether they emerge from clay, engraved copper, or a vibrant palette of paints.

London is a mystical place, full of dark alleyways, rich history, and vibrant multiculturalism. Despite its many challenges – limited space, high costs of living, constant noise, and endless movement – I can’t help but remain in love with it and inspired by its energy.

As for France, I’m not entirely sure how it inspires me, but having spent my childhood and teenage years there, it undoubtedly shaped me in many ways. I grew up near Giverny, where Monet lived and worked during the later years of his life. As a child, I often felt compelled to copy Impressionist paintings – sometimes more successfully than others!

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How has your work changed over time? Are there themes or techniques you keep coming back to?

As my career developed, I introduced more human figures into my work. And now, for better or worse, I can’t seem to escape them – they just keep coming!

When it comes to techniques, I juggle a broad range of tools. Even though one might be put on pause in favour of another, I always find my way back to them.

Recently, I’ve been working with clay more intensely. It’s a medium I first explored as a very young child – my mum had a kiln, and I loved modeling animals and all sorts of things. I was quite serious about it! Although I took long breaks from clay sculpture, I returned to it in my early 20s and, more deeply, in the last couple of years. I’m excited to share some of my most recent sculptures and pieces at Battersea Spring!