Through the different mediums that I like to work with, primarily painting, but also through video making and music, I try to capture the complexity and spontaneity of inner conflict and the relief that comes from Art or Beauty.
My paintings are testimonies and revealers of my place in the world, I often represent the loneliness of the artist, the isolation that comes from having a certain sensitivity and the never-ending process of self-realization.
In my approach as a painter, I try to paint with a gesture that is representative of my emotion, often nervous, fast and full of adrenaline. For that reason, I use acrylic and oil pastels as I wish to paint fast to capture the spontaneity, the present moment and be able to build on it. I like to disturb calmly set scenes with the rush of my intuition that blurs and gives the honest expression of who I am.
My relationship to colour, composition, and perspective is greatly inspired by Matisse, Odilon Redon, Chagall or contemporary painters such as Hernan Bas, Adrian Ghenie, and David Hockney.
ARTIST STATEMENT
CURRICULUM VITAE
Davina Shefet
25/02/1988
Nationality Danish, born and still living in France (Paris)
Trilingual French, English, Danish
+33 (0)6 62 12 23 44
EDUCATION
2014: Bachelor - École de Communication Visuelle / School of Visual Communication, with options in illustration and a discipline named «Acte IV» which focused on realizing artistic projects and Contemporary Art Culture - Paris
2006: French Baccalauréat with a special in Literature and Drama obtained with Honors - Lycée Bristol, Cannes
EXHIBITIONS AND COMMISSIONS
March-April 2018: Solo exhibition of the Series «The Opium Dream» Espace Rue Bernard Palissy, Saint-Germain-des-Prés - Paris
2017: Commission installation and performance adapted from the video project I made in 2015 «Amour et liberté» for Agency CC and inauguration of Hotel Sir Nikolaï - Hamburg, Germany
2015: Commission of silk paintings and sculptures for «Arts for Patròn» event organized by Le Fruit Studio agency for Patròn Tequila - Atelier Basfroi, Paris
2013: Group exhibition «Nomad Utopia» Caroussel du Louvre, Tranoï - Paris
DISTINCTIONS
2019: Featured in House & Garden UK, Bo Bedre "Best Places to buy Art Prints", Elle Denmark
2018: Featured in Saatchi Art Collection «Meet The New Figurative Painters»
Featured in Bo Bedre, article referencing the best places to buy art prints online
2016: Finalist at «Entrepreneurs des Métiers d’Art» organized by the Institut des Métiers d’Arts and Ernest and Young for the fashion brand project
2014: Finalist at Contest «Meilleurs Dessinateurs» Best Drawers held by newspaper Libération with imposed theme: "Nocturnal portraits" - Series of illustrations, mixed media
OTHER ART RELATED AND CREATIVE EXPERIENCES
Since 2018: Managing my online store where I sell my decorative art
2015 - 2018: Founder and Art Director of fashion brand Davina’s Bazaar which focused on textile design and turning my silk paintings into kimonos - Paris
2017: Scriptwriting of an original series called «Dreams and sticks», an autobiographical musical drama. The writing of this project lead me to intern at the Art Departement at Zentropa during the filming of Lars Von Trier movie: «The House that Jack Built» - Copenhagen, Denmark
2014: Internship at Christian Lacroix, Studio departement, graphic design - Paris
Since forever: Songwriting, singing, producing - Pop, Soul, Jazz, Electro
BIOGRAPHY
Davina Shefet is a visual artist (mainly painting and videography) and singer-songwriter.
She was born in France from Danish parents on the 25th of February 1988.
She grew up in the south of France in a town called Vence where she fell in love with the Matisse Chapel, discovered painters like Chagall and was greatly touched by the Art and the beauty of the nature surrounding her.
At eleven, she started to learn opera singing and music theory with teacher and opera singer Agnes Chauvot. Discovering the characters and dramas of Verdi, Mozart, Puccini until she was seventeen.
She also studied theatre early on and then through her high school in Cannes. This is where she discovered scenography, costume, directing, acting, scriptwriting and analysis of Art.
At eighteen, she moved to Paris and decided to solely focus on music.
For five years she had a band called Mops with Nicolas Techer, who is today an award-winning music producer. They made the choice of being independent which led Davina Shefet to start learning about visual communication, mainly as a mean to help the band reach out to a broader audience.
She studied photography, video making, graphic design, first as an autodidact then at the School of Visual Communication in Paris.
For four years she studied visual communication and art direction with a special in advertising and options in illustration and artistic projects.
In 2013, she was a finalist at the contest held by Libération, «The Best Drawers» and at the ending of her studies in 2014, she began an internship in the Studio of Christian Lacroix in Paris.
These experiences led her to start her fashion label in December 2014, with the concept of turning her silk paintings into kimonos.
The brand received press (RTL, Femmes Actuelles, Zoe Magazine, Crush Magazine etc.) and was seen on stage at festivals on musicians like AWA, and a dress was seen at the Festival de Cannes on upcomming talent Heloise Martin.
In 2016, Davina Shefet was a finalist at the contest «Entrepreneurs des Métiers d’Art» organized by the Institut des Métiers d’Arts and Ernest and Young for her fashion brand.
The fashion brand wasn't so much about the fashion but the entire creative outlets and possibilities it created. The commerce side of things were eventually taking over the creative and Davina Shefet realized that this route wasn’t artistic enough. She missed telling stories, entertaining, music and painting.
In 2017, she started working on an original script, an autobiographical musical drama that lead her to intern at Zentropa at the Art Department during the filming of "The House that Jack Built", the latest Lars Von Trier movie.
Coming back from that experience she decided to focus on her art and in December 2017 she closed her store in Saint Germain des Près where she sold her fashion brand and decided to focus on painting and music.
In 2018 she spent all year painting and opened her online store. She has been featured in a Saatchi Art Collection, the Danish home decor magazine Bo Bedre, Elle Denmark, House & Garden UK and is collected in Danmark, London and the United States.
She is having her solo exhibition "Opium Dreams" at Leslie Curran Gallery, Florida from November 18th 2019 til January 18th 2020.