Updated: 12 hours ago
In this 8-minute video, I talk about what has been at the heart of my work for several years: women, nature, light — and the deep conviction that joy is an act of courage.
I share the story behind my exhibition "Divines", shown at Galerie Exit in Aix-les-Bains, and my collaboration with Sabrina René, the gallerist who was the very first to believe in my work and to support my artistic journey from the very beginning.
A nice interview and a great complicity with Sabrina who owned the art galerie "Exit"
"Divines": celebrating possibility, not pain
With "Divines", I didn't want to create a militant exhibition in the traditional sense.
Yes, the place of women in the world matters deeply to me. Yes, nature is under threat. But I have never wanted to paint suffering.
I wanted to paint possibility.
Each watercolour in this exhibition is an invitation to imagine a world where the feminine enters into dialogue with nature, where the sacred meets the everyday, where the quiet strength of women lights the way to a shared future.
What I call artivism — art that is engaged, but carried by a luminous, generous and resolutely optimistic aesthetic.
The Icônes series: women from around the world, united by sisterhood
At the heart of "Divines" is my Icônes series — portraits of women from every corner of the world: Asia, Africa, Europe, the islands, even the digital world. Each is surrounded by a gold leaf halo — not as a religious symbol, but as an inner light, a silent crown, a sacred energy.
These women — real, imagined, or drawn from popular culture — are connected by an invisible thread: universal sisterhood. Across origins, cultures and languages, they share the same vibration, the same breath of shared humanity.
The gold leaf is not there for decoration. It is there to say: every woman is an icon.
What Galerie Exit saw in my work
Sabrina René, director of Galerie Exit, was the first to exhibit my work.
In the video, she explains why she chose to support me — and what she saw in my paintings that she felt compelled to share with the world.
Her gallery and I share the same conviction: art must speak to the issues of our time, without ever losing its beauty, its generosity, its vital energy.
A little about my journey
I trained as an architect and chose several years ago to dedicate myself entirely to painting.
Watercolour found me naturally: its fluidity, its unpredictability, the letting-go it demands with every brushstroke — that is exactly what I had been looking for.
Since then, my works have entered private collections in France, Switzerland, Mexico, the United States, Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
And I continue to exhibit, in galleries and art fairs, in France and internationally.
👉 Explore my online classes→ https://www.caroline-venencie.fr/en/copie-de-online-class-bloom-freely
