Lassana Samassa was born in April 1982 of a Senegalese mother in a small village between Mauritania and Mali. In 1986 he arrived in France with his mother and his little sister, leaving behind his twin sister, Hawa, with his grandmother.

His mother and grandmother are both designers and when he was younger, Lassana used to fall asleep among their drawing, sketches, and fabric...

He discovered his passion for painting when he was in college. Back then, in his eyes, paints were something obsolete and complex but later he realized that painting was his way to escape to other places. That's when the brush became his third hand. His first painting was so breathtaking that his art teacher asked him to reproduce it in front of her. He still has it at home, a picture of a parrot.

From then, she enrolled him in several art contests, which he won! He loved it because it made him work harder, and learn faster. He studied : A diploma in fine art in order to study higher level applied art and graphics (a version of contemporary fine art) as well as two years studying with a degree in graphic communication.

In 2000 and 2002 Lassana went back to Africa for few months. Those trips were very emotional as he saw his twin sister after 15 years of separation but the trips also helped him to discover himself, and learned about his heritage.

Today Lassana's art is based on a fusion between primary and primitive civilizations with a futurist and untouchable world inspired by his favourite comic book creator (also a comic artist and film director) Enki Bilal. He uses materials like acrylic paint, Chinese ink, pastel and pencil, combining to make his work unique.

Lassana is a painter but being surrounded by fashion lovers, it was perhaps inevitable that a few months ago he was chosen to design a Miss Soninke 2009 dress, which he did with to huge acclaim.

Today he is combining his two talents in one with an art book "Immortal by Lassana Samassa". As its name suggests, the "Immortal" art book is a sort of book, with a collection of pictures, sketches and photographs. It provides data and information considered artistic, but also illustrated pictures, sketches and ideas. It is composed of several chapters directly relating to this seasons Couture collections. Several artistes are involved, with poems and photographs.

"The Immortal Art Book" is designed to act as a communication tool but also as an archive for the collection. Thus fashion shows could be defined as exhibition in motion.

INTERVIEW

BC: Have you ever had your work shown in an exhibition?

LS: Yes, I did a lot of exhibitions at the beginnings, in places like "L'Abracadabar" famous for showing young talents and around Paris.

BC: Why do you paint?

LS: I paint to leave the reality for a while; I am looking for something that I can not touch. I try to reproduce some of my dreams, trying to be in touch with what we can't see. I like it that the people can feel transported somewhere where they can forget everything.

BC: What do you like to paint?

LC: I like to paint the human being, the man, woman and child. I like to show the people what we don't know, what we may never meet. Those that we think that we know, the peoples that we idealize or that which we criticize.

BC: Where do you get your inspiration?

LS: Again, people; primitives civilisations but also from my idea of a utopian life and my imagination.

BC: Who is your mentor?

LS: I like Enki Bilal, he is an illustrator and a painter as well and many other things, he is a successful artist who can describe anything with a pen.

BC: Do you consider yourself like a painter or a designer?

LS: I've always wondered what I was and I couldn't find an answer but I've found a way to live in both worlds. I do paint, draw and create for fashion, which is a sector that requires all these skills. For me to be a painter or another type of artist doesn't mean so much. I like to regroup all kind of graphic arts that operate in the same world. I have this project to create an art book that will reunite all these disciplines from the sketch to the photograph, from the poem to the "defile" (catwalk, fashion show)

BC: Thank you Lassana

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