Collyns Charts
Collyns Charts (Bruxelles, 1997) est un artiste belgo-nigérian basé à Bruxelles et diplômé d’un Master en option dessin à l’école supérieur des Arts visuels de La Cambre en 2024. Cet artiste pluridisciplinaire envisage son œuvre comme un processus initiatique. Pour lui, l’art naît d’une accumulation d’idées forgées par une pratique rigoureuse, prenant forme dans des créations hybrides. À l’image d’un alchimiste transformant des matériaux ordinaires en or, il explore et expérimente sans cesse pour redéfinir les frontières de son art et susciter de nouvelles sensibilités. Son travail tisse un pont entre les temps anciens, marqués par des figures divines et une science ésotérique, et l’époque contemporaine, dominée par la rationalité et la rigueur scientifique.
Dans sa pratique, Collyns Charts privilégie le faux collage, une technique qui crée des résonances parfois contradictoires, mêlant réel et imaginaire pour établir des réseaux inédits. Grâce au principe du transfert, il fait cohabiter formes et couleurs dans un équilibre dynamique. Ses œuvres intègrent des matériaux variés : encre de Chine, brou de noix, images numériques imprimées sur celluloïd, gravures, morceaux de verre ou encore peinture pour vitrail. Ses panneaux rétroéclairés offrent une expérience où chaque élément contribue à une composition singulière.
Au cœur de son travail se trouve une réflexion sur les rapports entre l’homme, son environnement et sa culture. Le portrait, central dans sa démarche, devient un outil pour explorer l’évolution de son regard sur la société. Dans ses portraits, Collyns Charts schématise souvent le décor, soulignant le contraste entre la vitalité chaleureuse du corps humain et l’austérité froide des paysages urbains modernes. Influencé par le surréalisme belge, il intègre des éléments surnaturels à la réalité, cherchant une transcendance face à une vision purement matérialiste du monde.
La question de la peau, en tant que marqueur de différence, occupe une place particulière dans son œuvre. Ayant grandi dans un environnement où sa singularité belgo-nigérienne était perceptible, Collyns Charts transcende cette différence en créant des personnages à la peau verte, bleue, mauve ou rouge. Il célèbre ainsi la diversité sans hiérarchie, sublimant les différences dans une approche poétique et universelle.
Collyns Charts (Brussels, 1997) is a Belgian-Nigerian artist based in Brussels. He graduated with a Master’s degree in Drawing from La Cambre, École supérieure des Arts visuels, in 2024. A multidisciplinary artist, he conceives his work as an initiatory process. For him, art emerges from an accumulation of ideas shaped by rigorous practice, taking form in hybrid creations. Like an alchemist transforming ordinary materials into gold, he constantly explores and experiments to redefine the boundaries of his art and awaken new sensibilities. His work weaves a bridge between ancient times—marked by divine figures and esoteric science—and the contemporary era, dominated by rationality and scientific rigor.
In his practice, Collyns Charts favors the “false collage,” a technique that creates sometimes contradictory resonances, blending the real and the imaginary to establish new connections. Through the principle of transfer, he brings shapes and colors together in a dynamic balance. His works incorporate a wide range of materials: Indian ink, walnut stain, digital images printed on celluloid, engravings, fragments of glass, and stained-glass paint. His backlit panels offer an experience where every element contributes to a singular composition.
At the heart of his work lies a reflection on the relationship between human beings, their environment, and their culture. Portraiture, central to his practice, becomes a tool for exploring the evolution of his gaze on society. In his portraits, Collyns Charts often schematizes the background, highlighting the contrast between the warm vitality of the human body and the cold austerity of modern urban landscapes. Influenced by Belgian surrealism, he integrates supernatural elements into reality, seeking transcendence in response to a purely materialistic vision of the world.
The question of skin, as a marker of difference, occupies a special place in his work. Having grown up in an environment where his Belgian-Nigerian identity was perceptible, Collyns Charts transcends this difference by creating characters with green, blue, mauve, or red skin. In doing so, he celebrates diversity without hierarchy, sublimating differences in a poetic and universal approach.
Collyns Charts (Brussels, 1997) is a Belgian-Nigerian artist based in Brussels. He graduated with a Master’s degree in Drawing from La Cambre, École supérieure des Arts visuels, in 2024. A multidisciplinary artist, he conceives his work as an initiatory process. For him, art emerges from an accumulation of ideas shaped by rigorous practice, taking form in hybrid creations. Like an alchemist transforming ordinary materials into gold, he constantly explores and experiments to redefine the boundaries of his art and awaken new sensibilities. His work weaves a bridge between ancient times—marked by divine figures and esoteric science—and the contemporary era, dominated by rationality and scientific rigor.
In his practice, Collyns Charts favors the “false collage,” a technique that creates sometimes contradictory resonances, blending the real and the imaginary to establish new connections. Through the principle of transfer, he brings shapes and colors together in a dynamic balance. His works incorporate a wide range of materials: Indian ink, walnut stain, digital images printed on celluloid, engravings, fragments of glass, and stained-glass paint. His backlit panels offer an experience where every element contributes to a singular composition.
At the heart of his work lies a reflection on the relationship between human beings, their environment, and their culture. Portraiture, central to his practice, becomes a tool for exploring the evolution of his gaze on society. In his portraits, Collyns Charts often schematizes the background, highlighting the contrast between the warm vitality of the human body and the cold austerity of modern urban landscapes. Influenced by Belgian surrealism, he integrates supernatural elements into reality, seeking transcendence in response to a purely materialistic vision of the world.
The question of skin, as a marker of difference, occupies a special place in his work. Having grown up in an environment where his Belgian-Nigerian identity was perceptible, Collyns Charts transcends this difference by creating characters with green, blue, mauve, or red skin. In doing so, he celebrates diversity without hierarchy, sublimating differences in a poetic and universal approach.