Pure, Childlike Joy in Pascale Sexton Bilgis’ Little Flat People

This month, Jasper’s Tiny Gallery has featured the work of Pascale Sexton Bilgis, a French mixed media artist currently located in Charleston, South Carolina. She is predominantly concentrated on expressionist landscape paintings, which are inspired by the vast majesty of the French countryside she grew up in, and sculpture. 

Bilgis’ sculpture work is highlighted in particular in Tiny Gallery, which is currently showing a collection of works from her Little Flat People series. These Little Flat People are all made of the same clay, same color, fired in the same kiln at 2000 degrees, and if it weren’t for their various poses—and their surroundings made up of shells, rocks, and other bits of painted clay—they would all look virtually the same.  

Still, through these aforementioned other elements, the Little Flat People take on lives and personalities of their own, reflecting many of the lives Bilgis notices around her. Of her inspiration behind the Little Flat People, Bilgis says on her website, “I found my inspiration in humanity and the people I see every day; especially, the purity and innocence of children, and their innate empathy for others.”

This childhood innocence and purity is certainly reflected in many of Bilgis’ works, including “Flying on a Mushroom,” which depicts two Little Flat People holding each other’s hands at the peak of an oversized mushroom, positioned in a sort of Superman-esque pose with their legs dangling off the mushroom’s cap; and “The Oyster Playground,” which depicts several childlike Little Flat People climbing up stone steps and sliding down a playground slide made out of an oyster shell, all in various modes of play, their limbs turned about in wild expressions of anticipation and enjoyment. 

Throughout the entire series, the Little Flat People take on a variety of activities, from fishing to reading to playing to drinking to simply being with one another, like in the piece “Golden Green Dad and Son,” which depicts a Little Flat Person standing proudly with his Little Flat son on his shoulders, looking out over a little clay pot. Each of the pieces is imbued with a kind of pure joy; no matter the occasion the Little Flat People may find themselves in, the kind of joy that can serve as a reminder of the wonder of life’s little things or simply provoke a smile in whoever may be so fortunate as to gaze upon it. 

All pieces are available at the Jasper Project’s Tiny Gallery until the end of April and are priced between $25 and $50.

Eight Things about Visual Artist Rebecca Lynne Horne

• Growing up with a father who was an artist, I’ve painted off and on my entire life. In 2018 I began to pursue it. In 2021 my art really began to take off. I consider myself a self-taught artist but have taken several courses over the past few years.

•  I grew up on Lake Wateree, S.C. I’ve bounced back and forth from Columbia and Camden and currently live in West Columbia 

• I’m an abstract artist so I love the creativity that Mixed Media allows me to have. With Fluid Acrylics, I love the way the paint moves and creates beautiful shapes and colors.

• My studio space is at my home. It’s small and packed full of art supplies! I’ve shown my work at various locations in the Midlands. Currently, I have several pieces at Aloft Downtown and several international online exhibits. Beginning in May, I’ll have several pieces on exhibit at the Koger Center. There are shows planned for later this year.

• My greatest influence so far is Ginger Thomas. I’ve taken every course she has offered, and I’ve learned so much from her about Mixed Media art. Then, of course, my father who was a fantastic artist. I don’t make art like he did, but he was the inspiration that sparked my interest in the beginning.

• Unique art is what I’m all about. It’s my personal mission to make art that is different. Like nothing anyone has seen before. It has to be pretty; it has to push the boundaries and it has to be intriguing. In my Mixed Media art, I love to find things to use in the structure that no one that I know of has ever considered. I also enjoy the challenge of applying many different types of texture into one piece. There are so many interesting layers and tiny surprises that someone has to look for to see. 

• Pascale Sexton Bilgis is my favorite SC-based visual artist. Not only is she my friend but she’s an incredibly gifted artist. She has a special way with colors, structure, and composition. Her art is always vibrant, unique, and interesting. You can see her personality come through in her work.

• Currently I’m working on getting art ready for the Cottontown Art Crawl. Also, finishing up several pieces for the Koger Center in May. I’ll have three pieces at the Crooked Creek Art League Spring Show in Chapin. That will take place starting Feb. 28 and run through March 26  After the Cottontown Art Crawl I’ll begin to work on ten to twelve pieces for a solo show this fall!

To see more of Rebecca Horne’s work visit her website.

ARTIST PROFILE: PASCALE BILGIS Brings Turkey and France to her Art

Pascale Bilgis grew up in a small village in Burgundy, France, and later in Dijon for her studies. At the age of 18, she left her homeland to continue her studies at the University of South Carolina where she received her BA in photography. After graduating, she worked as an archaeological photographer in southern Turkey and as an art assistant at the Pierre LOTI French School of Istanbul. While in Turkey she began to pursue a new passion for painting and ceramics. She moved back to the States in 2016 and became very active in the artist community in South Carolina. Her work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions throughout the state and has won numerous awards. She is a member of South Carolina Artists and currently lives in Lexington, SC. Learn more about the artist at her website.

HOME – New work
A multimedia artist focusing on landscapes, in her series Home, Bilgis recalls significant landscapes from her own life: the small French village of her childhood; Turkey, where she worked as an archeological photographer; and her current home, South Carolina. Working in acrylic, Bilgis splits her compositions into geometric sections using different color palettes to show the landscapes in different times of day or different seasons. She adds buildings in ceramic or wood relief. The architecture of the buildings helps identify her landscapes as belonging to specific regions: she creates the simple cottages of rural France, the bustling cityscape of Istanbul, and the nostalgic country houses of South Carolina. She chooses to show the buildings in ceramic relief to emphasize the durability of human habitations in contrast to the natural world, which reflects the changing seasons. “As the landscape is ever changing, homes remain in their original state,” Bilgis says.

Little Flat People – Mixed media
In her exhibition, Little Flat People, Bilgis seamlessly blends two-dimensional and three-dimensional elements to demonstrate the fundamental similarities between people. The artist presents little figures set among pebbles, wood frames, and panels with vibrant abstract expressionist landscapes as backgrounds. “After 2 years creating vivid abstract landscapes with ceramic architectural relief, I wanted to keep working with clay and acrylic colors but in a more meaningful way. One day while collecting pebbles on a beach in southern Turkey, I came up with the “Flat Little People” series,“ Bilgis explains. Made of clay and fired at 2000 degrees, the figures all look alike in that they are flat and uniform, but in truth they are not “flat” at all, they seem to be very lively and interesting. It is up to the viewer to imagine their emotions through their postures and implied actions.

Bilgis is one of the more than 100 artists whose work will be shown at the Cottontown Art Crawl on March 12th in Columbia, SC.