February 2024 Featured Artist

Gyotaku, Black Sea Bass

Thierry Poirot

February, 2024

In February, meet Artsbridge board member Thierry Poirot. His art is inspired by living worldwide & painting with artists he's met. Explore his detailed artwork this month.

I was born in Afghanistan to an American mother and a French father posted there for the French government to start with his colleagues , the first Medical School in Afghanistan. After Dad’s Afghan assignment, the family went to Tunisia where my father was the WHO (World Health Organization) Medical Officer in charge of Trachoma eradication campaigns in the southern regions of Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco. I spent most of my childhood between France with my grandparents and Tunisia with my parents. These early travels gave me an appreciation for different cultures and art forms.

My parents settled back in France when I was 9. I then went to a school for the first time, a rather traumatic experience, which triggered my interest in photography as a hobby taking me away from school. I completed my secondary school summa cum laude with the Marists and was admitted to Medical School. During secondary school, I attended for several years, a formal drawing course led by Mr. Sabatier, a gentleman passionate in art who was affectionately referred to by his students as “Picasso”. Chain smoking “Gitane” cigarettes, he trained his students on perspective, the use of pencil and Canson paper.

After Medical School, I trained as an ophthalmologist and was practicing my specialty in a University Hospital in France, and illustrating different books and publications. Getting exposure as a clinical investigator, I was offered a position in the pharmaceutical industry by the French subsidiary of a major US company. After a few years in France, I was offered a job in the US, and eventually in Singapore where I stayed with my family for over 10 years.

This was a decisive moment for my artistic endeavors: I was very lucky to meet and befriend a local internationally known artist, Mr. Siew Hock Meng, who invited me to join a group of professional and amateur painters he mentored. I painted with them every Saturday morning (plein-air), Sunday afternoon (figure) and Wednesday night (portrait). This was a fantastic opportunity to meet talented local artists such as Teng Nee Cheong, Toh Kar Ann, Boon Wang Lee, Shao Hua Fan, many of them becoming well-known over the years.

During my travels in Asia, I went frequently to Japan where I discovered Gyotaku, the ancient custom of rubbing rice paper or fabric on a fish coated with ink. It is believed that Japanese fishermen who wanted to keep a memento of their most memorable catch invented Gyotaku in the 1800s. Gyotaku eventually evolved in a sophisticated art form. I was impressed by the exhibitions I attended in Kyoto and Tokyo and decided I would someday try my hand at Gyotaku which became a significant portion of my portfolio.

My family and I came back to the US in late 2002. In 2016, after 35 years in the pharmaceutical industry and various companies, I decided to dedicate my time to art. I paint mostly in oils, but also in pastels, and charcoal, and generally travel with my watercolor box and my camera. I enjoy painting a variety of subjects, ranging from still life to portraits.

Enjoy these selected works of art by Thierry Poirot.