Portraits of the artists

Astrid de la Forest

I ended up doing this job quite by accident. It was 1989, and at that time I was in New York and I was drawing all over the place: street scenes, cafés, drunks and junkies who didn’t notice me; the city and its fauna fascinated me. There I met a journalist: Isabelle Baechler.
She contacted me a few months later, after being appointed to France 2’s legal service and recalling those sketch books of mine she’d glimpsed in New York.
That is how I started off in this profession. First trial: Action Directe in Lyon, 30 accused, the GIGN everywhere, the hearing lasted 6 weeks, it was all so quick, so exciting, I gave Max Frérot 6 fingers on one hand…The atmosphere of a trial absorbs me, all human life – everything - is there, in that real, living theatre, from the greatest misery to the most perverse forms of intelligence.
For many years, I drew these terrorists, murderers, former collaborators, child rapists, lawyers, judges and police officers with the same fascination and curiosity. Now, I am a painter and engraver, I’ve left the courts behind. But I’ve forgotten nothing of those grave occasions, they are still with me and I use my experience of drawing from life every day.

Listen to Astrid de La Forêt, artist - 03:22 [MP3 - 2.3 Méga octets]