ECHOES OF THE UNSEEN

Project originally presented at Studio DDLA

François-Pierre Couture is a Los Angeles-based artist with a background in theater, dance, and opera design. His work is a continuous exploration of the human experience, seen through the lens of environments that evoke a sense of awe and unease. Since 2008, Couture has lived in Downtown LA, a vibrant and eclectic area that pulses with the energy of countless lives intersecting. This dynamic environment deeply influences his artistic vision, blending the surreal with the familiar.

This exhibit is a collection of landscapes each piece a fragment of a larger narrative. These originals, created with charcoal, pastels, and graphite on cotton paper, draw from real locations but transform into reconstructed memories, emphasizing the emotions and impressions they left on the artist. In contrast to his figurative work, where narratives are grounded in observable reality, Couture becomes an unreliable narrator in these landscapes, aiming to evoke rather than depict.

The absence of people invites the viewer to step into the artwork, to find their own place and point of view within these eerie and expansive spaces. In this way, the landscapes become not just visual experiences, but immersive environments that encourage introspection and personal discovery.

Couture’s intention with this body of work is to invite viewers into a world that feels both familiar and otherworldly, where the boundaries between reality and imagination blur. These landscapes are not just places—they are emotional spaces, where the viewer is encouraged to wander, reflect, and perhaps discover something unexpected.