miss van · N^o2148

In the early 1990s, Miss Van started to paint street art in her hometown of Toulouse, France, and garnered acclaim for her pouty, voluptuous “poupées" or "dolls." In 2003, Miss Van moved to Barcelona, where we met her for a studio visit and talked with her about art, identity and her upcoming exhibition.


Why did you move to Barcelona?
When I came here for the first time, I fell in love with the city, not only because of the graffiti, but because of the lights, the sun, the people—I don't know, everything. But I was painting a lot when I came here, and it was really inspiring for me. Every Sunday, I would choose a place and paint, just improvising. But I stopped painting street art because I wasn't motivated to go out into the city and slowly started to work more in the studio. I do miss the streets a lot, but I feel really stressed when I think about doing it again.


What made you start on streets in the first place, instead of the studio?
I have an identical twin, and I was always the shy one, drawing all the time, and she was more social, talking with people. People compared us all the time—we were the “twins” all the time. I really needed to have my own identity. I started to paint in the street at this moment when I split up with my sister, when I was 17.

In college, I met some guys and we just started to do graffiti. I started to take photos of them tagging and then I just felt like doing it. It was like having an adventure all the time. I was a rebel, I had a lot of energy, and as soon as I started I was really passionate and I did it intensively. Now, it's different. When we started, there were just a few graffiti artists. It was really pure in a way, we didn't want to make anything famous, not like now. People want to get famous really quick and they just think that doing graffiti or putting their name in the street will make them famous. So yeah, it was really fresh at that moment.


What did other writers think about the fact that you used brushes instead of spraypaint?
It was strange for the other ones. I was the first one to do that this way. I didn't think about it when I was doing it, I was just more comfortable. Then I realized that I was influencing more people with this technique and people were also criticizing me saying that it had nothing to do with graffiti. I didn't really care actually; I was just doing it.


People think your works are autobiographical. Is that true?
There’s a relationship between my painting and me. There is always a really thin line between us. It's my sensitivity, what I like or what I feel, or the way I want to show something. It comes from me so it has to be related to me, but it is not autobiographical. Every girl can see herself in my painting. It's more about emotion and sensitivity. It's a little more abstract.

Do you think your work is getting progressively darker?
I like the dark side because my work was always quite commercial. Not because I decided it, but because it was attractive and feminine in the graffiti world. I have a dark side that I also need to express.


Your next exhibition opens at Copro Gallery in Santa Monica, California, on August 11. Is there a theme for this exhibition?
Well, more or less. I always have the same theme; it's just evolving a little. So I wanted to use the familiarity, but find another way to show it, hide it, and mix it with an animal mask. I'm always trying to discuss the duality of familiarity, delicacy and now I’m adding this bestial element.


Photos by Stefan Kocev for Citizens of Humanity