Dyai

The artist

Dyai was born in Geneva and grew up in Bogotá, where he took his first steps in art alongside his mother Francine, painter and daughter of the architect Marc J. Saugey. She introduces him to painting, colors and materials while constantly giving him a great deal of freedom, so as to learn and evolve on his own through his mistakes, encouraging him to create on his own.

He then returns to Switzerland and continues his studies in the field of economics. Despite the rather cultural and literary milieu, where he develops a certain critical spirit, the artistic creation is relegated to a second plan. The return of Francine to Switzerland combined with the end of his studies and inconclusive professional experiences push him, urge him, to return to his first passion, painting.

He starts painting on his own again building himself as a painter through his encounters, discussions and readings, acquiring his technique in a self-taught way. In 2017 he creates along with his mother Art Saugey.

Artistic approach

Dyai sees his art as an individual approach in which solitude is necessary in order to define his self, his perception of others and of society. His multiculturalism plays an important role in his work, influencing his perception of the world and his personality. Torn between two homelands, two continents, two cultures, the artist, through this dichotomy of belonging, often feels that he does not really belong to any of them. This state allows him to apprehend emotions and relationships under a different prism.

His work follows a simultaneous progression evolving with him according to his life experiences and lessons. Humans being are complex and versatile, his works undergo these same alterations. His artistic approach evolves around two axes, conscious and unconscious.

The conscious crystallizes his reflections on the current society. With an often critical stand, Dyai explores the different facets of the notions, emotions and other aspects of society and the individuals who compose it. He seeks to express his perception of himself and to understand his place in the world as a human being and citizen. The conscious is inspired by current events as well as by nature and its relationships with others.

The unconscious is based on an introspective look at his own thoughts, fears, pultions, passions and emotions. To do this he uses abstract forms that he draws since his youth. These forms, his eidolons as he calls them, are created unconsciously and automatically, images offering a subject to the mind. Initially disconnected from reality they gradually integrate into his own world, giving rise to distorted visions of their reality.

Background

As soon as he finished his studies, he built himself as a painter and acquired his technique in a self-taught way, he kept a great latitude of conception and a total creative freedom.

In 2017 he began a degree in Fine Arts at the University of Paris – Sorbonne

Events/Exhibitions

2019 Florence Biennale, Italy.

2018 Group exhibition and collaboration. The Void. ALMACEN, Geneva, Switzerland.

2018 Group exhibition. Small. Place Suisse des Arts. Lausanne, Switzerland.

2017 Group exhibition. Entropy Vol. 2. Ottovolarte Art lab. Florence, Italy.

2017 Group exhibition. The June 2017 exhibition. Thuillier Gallery. Paris, France.

2014 10th Collective exhibition of Lancean artists. Ferme Marignac. Big lancy. Geneva, Switzerland.

2013 Solo exhibition, Espace Gaimont Petit-Lancy, Geneva, Switzerland.

2012 Collective exhibition, La Florimontaine. Petit-Lancy. Geneva, Switzerland