Artists Blandine Bardeau and Misa Gott ‘touch the moon, almost’ with their new work
By James Brewer
Plaudits have greeted the latest work – which is of variously magical and ethereal character – of London-based artists Blandine Bardeau and Misa Gott.
Guests marvelled at the mystic, but compelling compositions shown on the opening days, Thursday February 6th to Sunday February 9th, 2025, of the launch at the spacious (to say the least) gallery 2 in the atrium of The Handbag Factory in the city’s Vauxhall district. The venue, which must have once served a warehousing or manufacturing function but has been skilfully renovated with walls painted harmoniously off-white, is a haven of calm just off the busy artery Kennington Lane.
With its lofty skylight ceiling, the 800 sq. ft gallery could be imagined as built for giants or some mysterious interplanetary purpose. Whatever the fantasy or reality, it afforded the two artists space aplenty in which to display their entrancing output.
Modest of dimension, the artworks accrued distinct stature through exquisite coloration and forms. Blandine and Misa cultivate separate specialities, but their works seen together speak to a complementary life force.
From our garden you could touch the moon, almost was the whimsical title for their exhibition, and it is taken from a book written by Blandine that is being readied for publication.
The dual presentation invited viewers “into a contemplative space to reflect on the sacred dance of creation, where the soil beneath and the heavens above intertwine in an eternal cycle of life, death, and rebirth.”
Blandine and Misa say that consciously or unconsciously, as mother artists, they “draw profound inspiration from the timeless cycles of fertility, the nurturing embrace of the earth, and the celestial rhythms of the moon. Rooted in the life-giving forces beneath their feet, they craft ethereal, evocative works that span abstract imagery and sculptural forms [as a reminder of] the connection between the body, the earth and the cosmos.”
They put it like this: Blandine’s delicate line drawings and soft, tactile sculptures echo the phases of the moon, embodying the sacred femininity and quiet power they represent. Misa’s intuitive marks and organic shapes reflect the ever-transforming forces of nature and the interconnectedness of all living things.
On her website, Blandine writes: “My recent work speaks of the Divine Feminine, an energy that is very much of the Earth and of the body, an energy that has been suppressed for a long time in all of us, men and women alike. I believe that our future and the future of our planet depends on us reconciling with this energy, bringing it forth into the world, and re-balancing it with the Divine Masculine. My pieces are like treasures that have been gathered from the ancient world.”
She often combines drawing, painting, monotype, collage and sculpture using fabrics. “I play with the boundaries between abstract and figurative, suggesting the form, keeping my work deliberately ambiguous so to preserve a sense of looking at something unknown and surprising.” One of the new works is in charcoal, an especially tricky medium.
She has started to make her own inks, watercolours and gouache paints. “This process is a conscious movement towards more sustainable art materials, being concerned with the environmental impacts of acrylic and oil paints.”
French-born Blandine has an MA in Painting from the Glasgow School of Art, studied BA Fashion Design Womenswear at Central Saint Martins in London, and after graduating created a jewellery collection. She organises art workshops and is part of the BleurArt collaborative and Luna Collective. She is a wholefoods-macrobiotic cook and health coach and teaches cooking classes online and in person.
Misa was born and grew up just outside Tokyo. At the age of 18, “I decided I wanted an adventure, so I came to the UK to study. Twenty-something years later, I am still here!” Although she has lived outside Japan for more than half of her life, she is still influenced by Shintoism and Buddhism. “In Japan Shintoism is more of a way of life than religion. Everything has spirits. Not only natural phenomena like earthquakes but also unexplainable events or mysterious incidents are acts of many spirits who can be mischievous sometimes.”
In the meditative tradition of Japanese nature painting, Misa creates images with enigmatic motifs “oscillating on the boundary between semi-abstraction and vaguely recognisable figurative or landscape.” This indeterminacy highlights transience and the elusiveness of nature. Leavened with poetical lilt, the short titles for her conceptions reflect the ceaseless flow of nature. At the heart of her practice lies a deep exploration of ecology and the interconnectedness of all beings, particularly the idea of “us as nature.”
Misa came to art as a second career some 10 years ago when she went back to study at Camberwell College of Arts. “Having worked in an intense long-hours office job, I was desperate to find myself and reconnect with the environment through art.”
Misa spoke of the inspiration of a stay in November 2024 at the Joya: AiR arts residency in Andalusia. “This experience has deeply influenced my current body of work, where I incorporate elements from wild nature both in the materials I use and the way I present my creations.”
Joya: AiR is a not-for-profit residency for artists, based in a restored farmhouses complex in the Parque Natural Sierra María, an area of outstanding natural beauty. Misa said that during her three weeks there, “I felt a profound sense of freedom and possibility. Immersed in a dry and barren landscape, I discovered the resilience of life – the strength and ingenuity of nature as it adapts to harsh conditions. I built a little shrine that I visited every day to help me to build relationships with unfamiliar environments.”
She explores the cycles of grief, loss, and renewal that imbue her sculptures made from found natural materials and paintings that reflect on these themes. Grief, like winter, can feel barren and still, but within it, there’s also space for growth, transformation, and reverence for what was.”
Misa has received the Bainbridge Studio Award and the Intaglio Printmaker Award at the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers National Original Print Exhibition. She regularly exhibits at the Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair.
The Handbag Factory, launched in November 2023, is managed by Artists Studio Company, an arts charity with over 30 years of supporting creativity, assisting artists and makers, and offers training, mentoring and grant funding. The venue has desks for coworking, and printmaking facilities.
The exhibition weekend included sculpture-making activities for children.
Blandine said: “On a personal note, I am seven months pregnant, and I wanted to show my works before I take a little break to raise my baby for a while. I will miss being in the studio and creating, and this event feels very important to me.”
Artwork captions:
Between the Sun and Two Moons, 2024. By Blandine Bardeau. Watercolour, acrylic, oil pastel, graphite and clay collaged on paper.
Galilee, 2025. By Blandine Bardeau. Oil pastel, watercolour, gouache, graphite and clay collaged on paper.
Rosary, 2024. By Blandine Bardeau. Sculpture made of wool, wooden beads, feathers, neoprene, clay.
Hum of imaginative voltage, 2024. By Misa Gott. Watercolour monotype, watercolour, soft pastel on calico.
What earth is like inside, 2025. By Misa Gott. Coloured pencil on wood panel.
Ink Heavy Palette of Night, 2024. By Misa Gott. Coloured pencil on wood panel.
More details at blandinebardeau.com and www.misagott.com
