BORN IN 1995, WENDY SYLVAIN IS A FRENCH AUTHOR ILLUSTRATOR WHO STUDIED IN LES ARTS DÉCORATIFS OF PARIS AND WHOSE WORK ADDRESSES SOCIETY, DAILY LIFE AND PEOPLE, WITH RECURRING THEMES SUCH AS IDENTITY, BODY, LOVE AND SEXUALITY.
LIKE A MEDIATOR BETWEEN HER IMAGES AND THE WORLD, MISCHIEVOUS AND OFTEN CRITICAL, SHE DEPICTS AN EERIE AND KINKY UNIVERSE, WHERE SHE PRESENTS THE BEHIND THE SCENE OF THINGS AND PEOPLE, IN A REFINED LINE DRAWING. HER CHARACTERS, RECURRING, ALWAYS IN MOVEMENT, ARE « COOL KIDS AND PERFECT LOSERS »,
AS SHE CALLS THEM.
HER ARTISTIC PRODUCTION DRAWS ON JAPANESE CULTURE : FROM CHILDHOOD, SHE WAS INTERESTED IN THE PRACTICE OF DRAWING, ALONGSIDE AN INTEREST IN THE JAPANESE LANGUAGE, WHICH SHE BEGAN TO LEARN ON HER OWN. SHE WRITES COMICS, INSPIRED BY MANGA OF WHICH SHE NOW HAS TWENTY SERIES. IN 2019, ON THE OCCASION OF HER FIRST STAY IN JAPAN, SHE PRESENTED HER FIRST SOLO EXHIBITION « UTSUKUSHII KAO, SUTEKI NA HITO », WHICH INCLUDES TWO SERIES OF ILLUSTRATIONS PRODUCED DURING HER STAY. HER COMICS OFTEN SET IN TOKYO, SHE BRINGS TOGETHER HER REINVENTED 2D TOKYO, WHICH SHE WANTS TO BE TRUE TO REALITY, AND THE TOKYO SHE VISITS.
THE OMNIPRESENCE OF NARRATION, THROUGH TEXTS AND IMAGES, IN FRENCH OR IN JAPANESE, THE ILLUSTRATOR MAKES ANALOGIES, PUNS, ACCUMULATION OF ELEMENTS OR SIMPLIFICATIONS OF FORMS, WHICH OFTEN GIVES DARING AND INCONGRUOUS RESULTS.
DREAMY, RAW, ODD, SENSITIVE AND COLORFUL, WENDY SYLVAIN TALKS ABOUT HUMANS TO HUMANS.
HER OPENNESS TO OTHER CULTURES, ESPECIALLY ASIAN CULTURES, OFFERS A RICHNESS TO HER POINT OF VIEW, OFTEN MULTIPLE AND MAKES HER AN ILLUSTRATOR WHO OSCILLATES BETWEEN EUROPE AND ASIA, REALITY AND IMAGINARY, FIGURATION AND ABSTRATION, REASSURING AND UNCANNY.