Théo Gerbert

Year of birth: I was born in 2002.
Describe your art in three words: I think that I would say dreamlike, strange and full-of-insects.
Your discipline: I am working on lots of different mediums, but my favorites are illustration, video and installation.
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Can you tell us more about your journey from studying art in Nîmes and Brussels to focusing on illustration and linocut techniques?

I first studied in an art and design class based in Nîmes, where I started to take an interest in making video and installation. After two years, I decided to follow a more artistic school, the ERG (School of Graphic Research) in Brussels. I was in a video class, but I had the opportunity to work with various mediums, which led me to take a break from my studies to focus on learning new technical skills like linocut. I am eager to learn different practices to explore creation in another way.

I also had more time to work on personal projects, such as the tarot card game or writing movies that I am still working on.

Théo Gerbert | Tarot écomystique | 2024

Your work is deeply inspired by nightmares and death. How did these themes become central to your artistic practice?

When I was a child, I was terrified of dying and afraid of everything linked to death. I had so many nightmares about it that I was scared to sleep. As I grew up, I began to turn this fear into something inspiring in my work. It became a way to express these fears, and now my artworks feel like a release. It’s a way to try to understand death, and approach it with poetry.

I also draw inspiration from my dreams. I love working on images that seem to come from dreams, as I believe the dream-making process is full of inspiration.

You mention “ecomysticism” in your statement. Could you explain how this concept influences your work and how you connect it to insects and their metamorphosis?

What I call ecomysticism is inspired by Bruno Latour’s reinterpretation of Kafka’s Metamorphosis, where he explains that humans should become insect-humans. I like to think about ecology, imagining a world of insectoid creatures in harmony with nature. I try to create works that feel like they come from a dream, populated with insects and nature’s spirits.

I explore the process of insects shedding their skins and humans transforming into insects as an extension of nature’s rebirth. Transformation is important in my work, and I express it through movement and performances, as if moments of dance represent stages of transformation or liberation.

Théo Gerbert | Le joueur de flute | 2024

What is the significance of Christian iconography in your work, especially when combined with insectoid figures?

I grew up in a Christian family, so this imagery surrounded me in childhood. It intrigued me, and art helped me reclaim it. Nowadays, I like using saints’ imagery to emphasize the idea of consecration: whether through the transformation of a character in my narrative works or through the lighting of fears.

I am particularly interested in dark, viscous things we hide deep inside, and I highlight them through rituals of consecration. These rituals are important in my work, representing a passage from the dread, symbolized by insects, to its illumination through Christian imagery.

How do you approach the subject of death in your art, and what do you hope to communicate to your audience through these explorations?

Death is omnipresent in my work, even in pieces that don’t directly address it. It’s always part of my thoughts and connected somehow.

I try to look deeper into it, using my work to create something poetic from what usually scares me. I want to present death in a softer, more poetic way, helping others to see it differently.

I also like to explore the connection between death and rebirth, often using metaphoric death in my works to imagine the transformations that follow, which can make real death feel less frightening.

Théo Gerbert | Zig et Zag in Salem | 2024

Can you describe the process behind creating your tarot deck and how it reflects your concept of ecomysticism?

I created my tarot card game by imagining a graphic universe filled with insectoid figures, inspired by the imagery of the Marseille Tarot and Christian figures of saints and martyrs. The cards transform into insect-icons, like forest spirit guides.

The metamorphosis of insects fits well with the magical, symbolic nature of the tarot and its themes of transformation. I made the illustrations, engraved them in linocut, and printed a series. I also drew a parallel between the linocut lines and tree veins, so my drawings feel like trees’ engravings that came to life, deepening their connection with nature and ecomysticism.

What advice would you give to other artists exploring themes of nature, death, and transformation in their work?

The most important thing in creation is to stay open to everything around you, as anything can be a source of inspiration.

Théo Gerbert | Au bord de l’eau | 2023