Catherine Meurisse

Catherine Meurisse is a cartoonist, illustrator of children’s literature and graphic novelist. A graduate of École Estienne and École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, her witty, erudite graphic novels are a place for conversations between the arts. La Légèreté (Dargaud, 2016) tells of her return to life and drawing following the attack on Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper. For the Concordan(s)e festival in 2017, she collaborated with the American choreographer DD Dorvillier on a work that explores the myth of the Niobids through painting and movement.

Building on this phrase from The Grass Pillow, Catherine Meurisse presented a drawn work that is loosely based on Natsume Sōseki’s novel. In it, she contrasts the experience of a western aesthetic (already a central theme of La Légèreté) with that of an eastern aesthetic. By associating her drawing with dance, she brings an additional dimension to Sōseki’s poetic journey.