Listening by the Eyes

“Eyes are unique, fragile and powerful and our emotions can be easily expressed through them.” Pulcherie Dasse told me her purpose of displaying all these paintings about eyes. Her voice was soft and her eyes were gazing at me, peacefully and comprehensively.

Hope by Pul

Born in Africa, Pulcherie Dasse is a French painter. She went to France with her family at a young age. Afterwards, she came to China. She speaks French, English and Chinese, so she can dig deeply into three cultures. The influence of these cultures is also reflected in her artwork. Pul thinks her work goes above all these languages: her inspiration comes from the love towards human beings and are expressions of thought, beauty and the gift of life.

As an exhibition about eyes, Pul brought most of her paintings related to eye there. She likes presenting her insightful observation to human’s subtle emotions through her depiction of eyes. Take the following picture as an example:

Hope by Pul

The child didn’t cry, but he offers us a sad facial expression with maturity. This is definitely not sadness caused by breaking his toys. It’s closer to sorrow, which should not appear at his age.

Pul said that her creation can be influenced by many things: news, experiences and sometimes her own emotions. The following picture was drawn after she was inspired by a true story:

Sadness Shot by Pul

“This journalist is before several elephants killed for their tusks…it’s unbearable…but she doesn’t want to forget and instead takes this sadness shot.”

Pul has her own unhurried pace and wisdom towards life. This can be learnt not only through her paintings, but also through her works’ introductions (which are all written by Pul herself). For the painting, Lollipop is Forbidden, Pul stated that “There is nothing quite like the eyes of an expressive child unable to hide any emotions. They can have the greatest joy and the greatest tantrum over the smallest things. This little girl is having to learn she can’t have everything she wants. It’s a hard lesson for her as she tries to cope with her feelings of anger and envy. Little does she know that this simple lesson will make her a happier adult.”

Lollipop is Forbidden by Pul

When asked about others’ impressions of her work, Pul smiled. “That’s happiness.” Pul said to me, “Most people will feel happy when they see my works. Even though some paintings express sadness, they will still feel happy.”

“Is it because of the colors?” I asked.

“Of course, it can be.”

Then, some words of Pul’s introduction struck into my mind: She doesn’t just paint with color. She lives, breathes and eats color. She is color.