Born in France, Geoffrey Planque is a visual artist who collects antiques and curios that he assembles with bead and needle work. His works, including collages, sculptures and installations, are steeped in textile embroidery technique that he adapts on paper (Wasli paper, heirloom photographs, old manuscripts, labels, etc.).
His universe is an expression of his Indo-French aesthetics that he formed through the study of Fine Arts as well as the study of Sanskrit, Bharatanatyam and Odissi. He is influenced by the ritualistic approach of Indian ancient treatises describe the making of a divine image.
Plucking some of his subjects from Indian miniature traditions, worldwide litterature, his works are like visions in which portraits act as catalysts for his imagination and emotions. His cast depitcs a pantheon of terrestrial deities which blends family members, strangers, children, etc. When the whole cast is presented in group, as if it was adorning the walls of a temple, it has an enduring frieze-like effect.
Geoffrey Planque’s dance journey justifies the importance of story-telling in his works. He places his characters into changing situations and, by reimagining the narrative of the photographs, emphazises the unseen. His works becomes reminiscences of a past performance captured in the lingering spotlight of the ages.
His material is at times hand-dyed, at others enhanced with beads, sequins and crystals, sprayed with gold spangles. Through his use of draftsmanship, of geometric pattern and design, of touches of watercolor on photographs, he creates a layered world of dream, nightmare, memory and imagination.
Each work seems to shut out everything except the experience of that particular instant of viewing in something like a brand new world, with new codes and new rituals. It is a window to espace.
His studio practice allows him to live out of Udaipur (India) and Roubaix (France).