House of Shila (HOS): Could you tell us about your time in residency at Shila? How did you experience your creative process during this context as compared to your everyday life in Paris?

Virginie Clavereau (VC): My arrival at Shila was like discovering a haven dedicated to creation, between the hotel’s raw and essentialist architecture, and the unique pieces of art on the walls. I walked a lot, wandering the city to immerse myself in the Athenian atmosphere. I needed to embrace the smells and the sounds of the Athenian life.

Since Shila is located so centrally, I was able to lose myself in a variety of different neighborhoods where I collected objects: Here, a piece of poster peeling off a wall; there, a book on traditional Greek island cuisine from a second-hand bookstore, or an Orthodox icon found in a chapel, a miniature hammer in the jewelers’ district…

HOS: You created your work ‘The Box’ during your time at Shila. How did you come to the idea for this piece?

VC: ‘The Box’ pays homage to Mia Hankimäki’s book “The Women I Think About at Night: Traveling the Paths of My Heroes” in the form of an installation that refers to the box of a 19^th century female traveler who defies the prohibitions of the patriarchy in all that it dictates and claims as taboo. She could be called Modesta, stepping out of Goliarda Sapienza’s book “The Art of Joy,” or Shila, the muse of the hotel, or Alexandra David-Néel; above all, I wanted to talk about women’s emancipation.

I channeled the curious and free woman who sets off on her own, risking everything. A woman who takes the path less travelled, even when it entails meeting the unknown. This woman travels light and yet, she cannot help but fill her box with objects gleaned along the way. Small things that upon her return will come reminders of the smells, encounters, and moments of this forbidden journey. My piece was upon the symbolism of this rebellious box full of memories.

“With age, I feel my work is expressed more and more clearly.”

HOS: When you reflect on the culmination of the residency and the immersive evening ‘A Dada Soirée’ what anecdote or memory comes to mind? How did you interact with your fellow artists?

VC: The suite where my work was displayed, and my performance took place, had the air of a cabinet of curiosities with a comfortable armchair, soft lighting, and a playlist I prepared for this special moment. Several visitors expressed their emotional response to the story I was telling of an imaginary woman and her memories. They saw themselves in it and were deeply moved. One woman felt comfortable enough to cry and let her emotions flow. A hush fell over the room. That was such a gift to me.

I love discovering the work of my peers, and it was enchanting to experience the performances of Marianna Rothen or the whistling concert by Molly Lewis, and to discover so many photographers and talents gathered with as much curiosity as benevolence.

HOS: Was this your first time in Athens or were you already familiar with the city? What would the similarities and differences be with Paris?

VC: Athens, in its blending of history and daily active life, is similar to Paris, but its Eastern side transports you immediately and in a radically different way. I don’t find it easy to say, but Athens is so much more generous!

HOS: What is something that you have noticed is newly inspiring you lately?

VC: Definitely dance, like the show ‘Theatre of Dreams’ by Hofesh Shechter. Contemporary dance performances are a real well of inspiration and energy for me; the companies of La Horde or Sharon Eyal build me up so much.

HOS: Your practice is self-described as being a ‘conversation with yourself.’ How important has this conversation been for you over the years, and how has it changed over time?

VC: What comes to mind is a quote by Niki de Saint Phalle, “Painting calmed the chaos that stirred my soul. It was a way of taming those dragons that have always emerged in my work.”

My work is not really a dialogue with myself, but responses given towards the world and the challenges I feel deep within me. I feel that by being my most sincere and closest to my fears, hatreds, laughter, tenderness, and my loves, I speak a language in which everyone can find themselves. With age, I feel my work is expressed more and more clearly. Thank you, time!

“My thirst to express all my feelings requires all possible tools. My hands cannot satisfy all the words swirling around my head.”

HOS: As a multi-disciplinary artist, you seem to be always experimenting with new materials and expanding on your mediums. How do you experience the urge and impulse to change what you’re working with?

VC: My thirst to express all my feelings requires all possible tools. My hands cannot satisfy all the words swirling around my head. In my studio in Paris, I work like a butterfly, flitting from one technique to another in the same day. Each one contributes to the same sentence! I work with modeling, oil painting, embroidery, or collage, in a well-paced rhythm.

HOS: You work with children in your art practice. Can you tell us about that side of your life and how it relates to your personal output, if at all?

VC: I have three children and I have been teaching children in my studio for 15 years, so they are familiar with my creative process. Children are curious and unfiltered; I love their spontaneity without taboos. I draw inspiration from their liberating creativity and often ask for their opinions and interpretations of my work. This also helps with preventing from taking oneself too seriously!

HOS: If you were to share the biggest lesson that children have taught you in life, what would it be?

VC: The impermanence of life and therefore accepting and letting go.

HOS: What advice would you give to the younger you?

VC: Don’t be afraid!

HOS: What are you working on at the moment or are there any projects you having coming up?

VC: An extraordinary cookbook called “Persephone, a Story to Savor” where my prints accompany recipes around “the myth” created by Maison Joumana, which has just been released. I also have a residency and exhibition in Madrid this fall at Galerie Esquinza 36, as well as a forthcoming book where my monotypes are paired with love poems by Lorraine de Thibault.

HOS: If you could be a character in any film or book, who would you be?   

VC: The character Marguerite in Mikhail Bulgakov’s book “The Master and Margarita,” who agrees to sign a pact with the devil to find the man she loves, or a passionate witch, or Dorothy in Walter Murch’s 1985 film “Return to Oz,” when she must return to the land of dreams and confront her enemies again, armed with her ruby slippers.

HOS: You’re cast away on a desert island. You can have three items of any kind with you…

VC: A tarot deck to tell me stories. Sunglasses to create distance. A sharp-bladed knife for sculpting and for defense… Just in case. Thank you again House of Shila for this amazing journey in Athens.

HOS: Thank you Virginie!