The Imprint of Gesture and Memory

My work unfolds an immersive mapping of the psyche and the living realm. Drawing from a neurobiological vocabulary—electrical currents and branching neural networks—painting becomes a site for the emergence of a memory that is no longer figurative, but dynamic and organic. The canvas is thus understood as a phenomenological vessel, capturing the tensions, flows, and intangible resonances of the human experience.

Artwork as Process and Introspection

Resisting any impulse toward immediate formal resolution, my approach develops within a resolutely processual and introspective dimension. I envision the canvas as a field of heuristic experimentation.

Mistakes, corrections, and layering are not erased; instead, they are elevated to the status of fully realized visual operators. Through a interplay of successive strata, every trial and hesitation remains embedded within the very texture of the work. The outcome is not a finished or decorative object, but a living organism that retains the memory of his own creation. Failure, far from being a pitfall, becomes the catalyst for an ontology of painting: it feeds the unfolding of the picture and reveals the persistent sedimentations of our own existential trajectory.

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Dates
October 10 - November 22, 2026

Opening days
By appointment with Stéphane Ducret : +41 76 385 6888

Artist
Stéphane Ducret

Venue
Stéphane Ducret Studio
Chem. Champ-Caron 5A
1292 Pregny-Chambésy near Geneva
Map

I consider C₂₀H₂₅N₃O₂ to be the prelude to my Being Matters series, in the sense that its subject matter is distinct from—yet at the same time serves as an introduction to—that series.

Having recently come to understand just how much LSD—the powerful psychedelic first synthesized in 1938 by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann—can increase the flexibility and complexity of brain activity, I used its chemical formula as a starting point to develop a celestial-looking drawing that opens the doors of perception.

Stéphane Ducret
Is this desire
2026
Oil on linen
188,2 x 138,2 x 4 cm | 74 ⅛ x 54 ⅜ x 1 ⅝ inches

Is this desire is the very first work in the Being Matters series. It marks the beginning of my exploration of the invisible mechanisms of thought and human trajectories. I view my painting as a space for artistic experimentation where the creative process engages in a dialogue with the depths of the psyche.

Drawing on the language of neurobiology—electrical currents and the branching patterns of neural networks—painting becomes a space where memory resurfaces, no longer as something figurative, but as something dynamic and organic.

I thus view the canvas as a phenomenological vessel in which the tensions, flows, and intangible resonances of human experience are imprinted.

Stéphane Ducret
With my voice I am calling you
2026
Oil on linen
188,8 x 138,6 x 3,9 cm | 74 ¼ x 54 ⅝ x 1 ½ inches

Stéphane Ducret
You better hold on to yourself
2026
Oil on linen
188,3 x 138,4 x 3,8 cm | 74 ⅛ x 54 ½ x 1 ½ inches

Each piece has a name that was sort of “revealed” to me as I was creating it, while listening to music by Laurie Anderson, PJ Harvey, Nick Cave, or David Bowie…

Stéphane Ducret
Do you love me like I love you
2026
Oil on linen
128,5 x 98,3 x 3,8 cm | 50 ⅞ x 38 ¾ x 1 ½ inches

Stéphane Ducret
I just wanna say, don't ever change
2026
Oil on linen
128,5 x 98,3 x 4 cm | 50 ⅞ x 38 ¾ x 1 ⅝ inches

Eluding any attempt at immediate formal resolution, my approach unfolds within a resolutely process-oriented and introspective framework. I view the canvas as a field for heuristic experimentation. Errors, corrections, and overlays are not erased; rather, they are elevated to the status of full-fledged artistic elements. Through a series of successive layers, every attempt and every hesitation remains inscribed in the very texture of the work.

The result is not a finished or decorative object, but a living organism that retains the memory of its own creation.

Far from being a stumbling block, failure becomes the catalyst for an ontology of painting: it nourishes the painting’s evolution and reveals the enduring layers of our own existential journey.