Nicolas Cazalé was born in Pau in 1977.
“My first passion, cinema, awakened in me the desire to paint.
Being an actor implies a particular condition: it is only possible once you are chosen—once you are allowed to step on stage. Since the main driving force is desire, there was a risk in entrusting one’s life to the gaze and choices of others in order to finally feel in motion. Thirty years ago, by investing for the first time that ‘dead time’ between two film shoots, I painted my first canvas.”
Since then, that feeling of freedom has never left him. Year after year, he has carved his own path, refined his technique, explored new mediums, and opened new horizons. Above all, a guiding principle runs through his work: an ode to slowness.
“All my work unfolds over long periods of time. I spend hours in the silence of my studio, giving each piece the opportunity and time to reveal itself and to surprise me. The final image never resembles the one that first sparked the desire to begin. I often feel that it has used me to come into being—and I thank it for its trust.”
