Born in Paris, Yanma Fofana (1999), is currently weaving her artistic narrative in Saint Denis. Her journey in the realm of visual arts began with a preparatory artistic class in Gennevilliers after completing high school, c leading her to the prestigious Beaux-Arts de Paris. A pivotal chapter unfolded in 2022 when she embarked on a transformative semester at the Otis College of Arts in Los Angeles as part of a university exchange program. Yanma recently achieved a milestone, obtaining her Diplôme National Supérieur d’Art Plastiques from Beaux-Arts de Paris in June 2023.

In the present moment, Yanma has found her creative haven in a collective studio in Ivry-sur-Seine. Looking ahead, she is set to embark on a four-month residency at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, Austria, starting March 2024—a promising chapter in her artistic exploration.

Yanma draws inspiration from a rich palette of artists, beginning with the figurative works of afro-American painters like Kerry James Marshall, Henry Taylor, and Noah Davis. Throughout the history of art, luminaries such as El Greco, Henri Matisse, and, more recently, Victor Man have significantly influenced her artistic perspective. The color purple, introduced to her palette after her exchange program in Los Angeles, takes center stage in her recent pieces, embodying melancholy and an ethereal, dreamlike quality inspired by the cinematic concept of the American night filter.

Artistically characterized by an exploration of temporality, memory, and erasure, Yanma’s recent series encapsulates moments spent with loved ones, intertwining contemporary scenes with family archives. Her paintings exude an ephemeral quality, with frequent effacements giving the impression of perpetual evolution and incompleteness. Each canvas becomes a testament—a conscious effort to remember the sensations and emotions evoked during those fleeting moments.

Over the past year, Yanma has delved into the concept of « Placelessness, » probing the feeling of disconnection from space that can lead to a sense of uprooting and melancholy. Adding another layer to her compositions, she has created bespoke wallpaper patterns that encircle her characters, serving to isolate them within the visual narrative. These imaginary compositions are born from diverse inspirations, including the traditional Ivorian clothing patterns of her mother and nods to art history, particularly the works of Henri Matisse.

In her artistic practice, materiality and texture play a vital role. Through layers of colored glazes and impasto techniques, Yanma crafts a visual symphony, manipulating the density of oil paint to evoke sensations of depth and light within her artworks. Yanma Fofana’s paintings, laden with personal and universal themes, invite viewers to traverse the delicate intersection of time, memory, and the ever-evolving nature of the human experience.