Hyacinthe Ouattara Burkinabe, b. 1981

Hyacinthe Ouattara is a multidisciplinary artist from Burkina Faso, living and working in Paris, France. Material, texture, and color are of great importance in his work. His way of painting is predominantly spontaneous and gestural, while his installations play with suspension and the tension between balance and instability.  

After training in drawing, he began to represent the human body in a dreamlike, ghostly, and childlike way before focusing on the anatomy of cellular tissues through “human maps.” Ouattara expanded his practice through a self-taught exploration of sculpture, installation, and performance.  

Ouattara’s sculptures, inspired by organic forms, consist of twisted, knotted, and patchworked found textiles. Through them, he reflects on concepts of memory, identity, connection, and intimacy while questioning the ambivalence between appearance and disappearance.  

Born in 1981 in Burkina Faso, Hyacinthe Ouattara received training in live model drawing, graffiti, and painting before embarking on a personal approach within the artist collective “Les Autres Yeux” and contributing to the creation and development of the Hangar 11 workshop in Ouagadougou. His work has been exhibited in Paris, Berlin, Dakar, Ouagadougou, Accra, Luxembourg, and Kalgoorlie, Australia.