>|< Papillon (alias PM Colpin-Gucat), a self-taught French painter born in 1968, has dedicated himself to painting since setting up his studios in 2008 in Serre di Pagliero, in the Maira Valley, Italy (province of Cuneo). In 2014, he continued his work in the hamlet of Libre and then in Bancao in Breil sur Roya, France, before establishing a secondary studio in 2015 in Perinaldo in the province of Imperia, Italy.
PM Colpin-Gucat aka >|< Papillon Lay down the colors as one carries their dreams, creating fragments of poetry that seek to capture a world elusive to mankind, one that no one can hold onto.
The painter searches for something intangible—the brilliance of a sunset reflecting in motion, in the deep azure blue of a Ligurian summer’s end. His pigments are layered, sometimes transparent, sometimes opaque, almost blindly, in a desperate attempt to capture the light, as shadows slip through his fingers.
Each work is an unfinished attempt to seize the moment, the movement of life.
Seasons pass, in the final glow of a day's end, and in the unexpected, perhaps he might become the alchemist—the bearer of the flame who comes close to touching the absolute. He plays with the sacred fire of light’s rays, with the games of the mind, sounds, and colors burning with a fire that never extinguishes.
