You discovered sentō on your first trip to Japan. What made an impression on you and why did you decide to work on these Japanese public baths?

I discovered the sentō somewhat by chance, during my first study visit to Japan. A fellow student took me to a public bath after class, and within minutes I found myself naked, sharing a bath with my university professor and classmates. For a Frenchman, this experience was totally unnerving, and it became my first real culture shock.

I soon realized that these places had an essential social dimension. Without speaking the same language, going to the bath regularly with this friend became a way of bonding: in Japan, we call this hadaka no tsukiai, "socialization through nudity". The simple fact of sharing this space creates a form of intimacy and trust that has had a profound effect on me. Going there almost daily, I also discovered the visual richness of the sentō: their temple-like architecture, colorful ceramic tiles, wall frescoes, curtains, retro objects... A veritable graphic heritage.

For a course, I produced a fanzine on these baths, which led me to meet sentō managers, including Minato-san, in Kyoto, who entrusted me with my first commission: to illustrate a towel sold in his establishment. This experience inspired me to continue working on these public baths, which I now see as essential places in the Japanese social fabric.

In 2022, you return to Japan to initiate Nuages Flottants. Can you tell us about this project?

In 2022, I was finally able to return to Japan after several years of waiting due to the pandemic. The country had remained closed for a very long time, and as soon as the borders reopened, I left with my partner, Luna Duchaufour-Lawrance, photographer and set designer. I wanted to show her what I had experienced in the sentō, and above all to create a four-handed project: combining her photography with my drawing, text and publishing work to document these places in depth.

We spent three months in Kyoto, meeting and interviewing the people who keep the public baths alive. It was a very special time: just after the Covid, many historic sentō, some of them hundreds of years old, were closing, for lack of customers or successors. There was something deeply melancholy about this gradual disappearance, because when a sentō closes, a whole piece of neighborhood life disappears.

Guided by Minato-san, sentō Umeyu manager and long-time friend, we were able to enter these places in transition and gather precious testimonies, while meeting a younger generation of managers, who are trying to revitalize these baths by organizing exhibitions, collaborations and cultural events. A way of inventing a future for these threatened spaces. This work has culminated in a book, Nuages Flottants, which has been very well received.

I had discovered Villa Kujoyama during my previous stay in Kyoto, meeting several prizewinners, and had been impressed by the energy of the place and the diversity of the projects carried out.

As a Villa Kujoyama laureate, you were awarded a residency in Kyoto earlier this year to pursue the project Nuages Flottants. How was your residency?

My residency at Villa Kujoyama was an extremely rich experience. I had discovered the Villa during my previous stay in Kyoto, meeting several prizewinners, including Sébastien Desplat, and I had been impressed by the energy of the place and the diversity of the projects carried out.

So I applied to continue Nuages Flottants, with a desire to explore sentō from an artistic angle that had yet to be tackled. Being selected enabled me to return to Kyoto for several months and continue this research in exceptional conditions. What really made the residency unique was the opportunity to meet and work with numerous art craftspeople: ceramists, dyers, indigo masters, printmakers... The Villa facilitates these encounters and accompanies us in these dialogues. I was also lucky enough to be surrounded by a class of very inspiring laureates, with whom the exchanges were extremely stimulating.

On site, I focused my work on the younger generation who are revitalizing sentō by thinking of them as cultural venues capable of hosting performances, exhibitions or events. This has led to some very concrete collaborations, notably with artist Riku Matsuzaki. All these encounters, techniques and know-how have nourished my practice as an illustrator with incredible material. I'm leaving with an immense corpus to explore, which I know will continue to influence my work for a long time to come.

What really made the residency unique was the opportunity to meet and work with so many art craftspeople: ceramists, dyers, indigo masters, printmakers...

Do you have a particularly memorable encounter or anecdote to share with us?

Yes, several encounters have left an impression on me, but one of the most powerful remains that with Riku Matsuzaki, an indigo artisan in Kyoto. We spent several days together creating a noren, i.e. a traditional entrance curtain, for the Inomatsu Onsen bath. The piece really bears the imprint of this encounter. I can also talk about my trip to the island of Yakushima, in southern Kyushu, a wild island populated by monkeys, deer and incredible hot springs. With Luna, we spent a magical week there and made some incredible encounters during the Yakushima Photography Festival.