Clara Bryon exhibition Retour de résidence, Chez Tante Martine

Clara Bryon, born in 1990, is a French painter and architect living in Montpellier. A graduate of the Montpellier School of Architecture in 2016, she received a jury prize for her work. Back in France, she is presenting an exhibition, "Retour de réisdence" at Tante Martine's until January 5th.

Her work draws inspiration from architecture, particularly the architects Tadao Ando and Louis Kahn, and explores the relationship between light, matter, and space. She seeks to reveal the delicacy of built elements and to showcase the richness of emotions they can evoke. In 2024, she won the Yishu Prize and presented the exhibition "Opening" at the Beijing House of Arts.

In Clara Bryon's work, doors, walls, and windows resemble wounds. They shouldn't be closed too quickly, but rather one should physically experience the healing that will emerge through them. Doors, walls, and windows resemble faces that, from their human darkness, allow the light of early morning to shine through.

Clara Bryon knows what is essential to her in life as in her art: restoring the flow of energy and drawing upon an inner, cosmic breath. And this very thing she came to Beijing to find requires demanding work. For some time, the artist had been standing on the threshold of China, waiting for the right moment to take the plunge into an unknown that, despite everything, felt familiar.

Because the painter-architect came to China to immerse herself in Chinese architecture and the unique relationship it creates between openness and closure, shadow and light, stillness and movement. From the Forbidden City to traditional courtyards, Clara's gaze shifted and then settled on compositions and motifs that reminded her that all architecture is a matter of passage, of junctions and transitions—those delicate moments we see without truly looking.

The traditional walls and windows of the hutongs awaited Clara. In particular, these screen walls (影壁) that channel energies and prevent malevolent forces from entering homes directly. According to Feng Shui, a well-placed wall prevents negative energies from penetrating a space. Hence the importance of obstacles and moments of stillness that force the eye and body to slow down, then to circumvent what seemed like a direct entry point. In Clara's works, the eye takes detours, often encountering a section of wall that, by defining the space, opens it up to a broader, more expansive rhythm. Certainly, light circulates and breathes, but something resembling an organized architecture emerges, becoming painting.

Then, during his residency at Yishu 8, the discovery of paper had its effect. In Beijing, the artist changed his usual medium, discovering the mystery and joy of traditional paper. This handmade paper, which becomes sky, water, landscape, and like skin, responds to the vibrations of the heart-brush.

Christine Cayol

Find Clara Bryon's work on her Instagram .

The exhibition can be visited by appointment from November 19th to January 5th, 2026.

Contact: ambrine@yishu-8.com