Maison des Genêts — La Vie et le Chêne
Collaborative mural – Villeneuve-d’Ascq, 2025
This collaborative mural was proposed to me by the town of Villeneuve-d’Ascq, specifically the Maison des Genêts, with whom I had already had the opportunity to create a first mural a few months earlier.
I still remember the day I was shown this wall, around ten metres high and almost as wide. Faced with this immense surface, the idea of a great oak standing at the centre of the composition came to me quite naturally.
As I developed that first idea, I remembered a film that had made a lasting impression on me: Le Chêne, by Laurent Charbonnier and Michel Seydoux, released in 2022.
This documentary immerses us in the life of a 200-year-old oak, 17 metres tall, in the heart of the Sologne forest, a few kilometres from the Château de Chambord. A true haven for biodiversity, this tree shelters a multitude of species: squirrels, jays, wood mice, ants, weevils and many more.
Through the seasons, the film invites us to discover this thriving ecosystem, without commentary or voice-over, allowing the images and sounds of nature to tell their own story. The tree appears as a living apartment building, with each floor home to its own inhabitants.
Inspired by this approach, I imagined telling the life story of an oak through painting in my own way, while giving the story a local dimension by celebrating different species from our region.
A composition combining nature and learning
As my research and early sketches progressed, the oak I had initially imagined gradually gave way to a simpler silhouette.
This artistic choice brings greater attention to the species around it and makes the overall composition easier to read. Although more understated, the tree remains the centrepiece around which all this local diversity is arranged.
The species depicted include a tit, a wood mouse, a wood ant and a large blue butterfly.
Alongside them, several characteristic features of the oak are shown as samples, set within square frames in a staggered arrangement. These details strengthen the educational dimension of the artwork, inviting viewers to look more closely at the different parts of this ecosystem.
The interplay of shapes, colours and scales gives the composition rhythm. It guides the eye while leaving everyone free to explore the mural, pause at one detail and then discover another.
An artwork created together
This mural was created with the participation of young people from the Maison des Genêts, who worked alongside me throughout the project.
Together, we worked through the different stages of its creation, mainly on the lower part of the wall.
We began by preparing the backgrounds and applying the first flat areas of colour, before moving on to spray painting, gradients and the various techniques needed to create the mural.
Beyond learning techniques, I place particular importance on the role young people play in my collaborative projects.
I like to give them real responsibilities, suited to each person’s abilities, to encourage them to take initiative, become more independent and, above all, grow in confidence.
Here, we listen to one another, pay close attention to the instructions, then give it a go. And if we make a mistake, so be it: we are here to learn!
This philosophy runs through all my workshops. I want participants to make the project their own, experiment freely and feel the satisfaction of having contributed to a collective artwork.
Ten days of creating and connecting
After ten days of work, we had brought an ambitious project to life, meeting the hopes of an entire neighbourhood that had watched the mural take shape day after day.
Beyond the painting itself, I have particularly vivid memories of the time spent with the young people and with residents of the Résidence neighbourhood.
Some would stop for a moment to watch the work progress, ask questions or simply exchange a few words. Others invited me to take a break over coffee.
And thank you for all those coffees!
These encounters, sometimes spontaneous, gave the adventure a deeply human dimension. Little by little, they turned the site into a place for conversation, curiosity and sharing.
For me, every project is unique and deserves special attention. I see it a little like a hidden treasure whose full richness takes time to reveal.
La Vie et le Chêne is the name of this artwork, built branch by branch and carried by the strength and energy of an entire neighbourhood.
Much more than a mural, it bears witness to a collective adventure filled with encounters, learning and shared moments.
I am deeply grateful to have had the opportunity to lead a project of this scale.
Thank you
I would especially like to thank the town of Villeneuve-d’Ascq for the trust it has placed in me and continues to show through each of our new projects.
I would also like to thank the young people from the Maison des Genêts for their attentiveness, enthusiasm and commitment throughout this adventure. Their participation was essential to the artwork’s success.
Finally, a huge thank you to everyone who will one day come across this mural, take the time to stop and look, and perhaps discover a detail they have never noticed before.
In the press
Project photographs
