A mesmerizing peek into the transformation of identity

A Peking Opera performer sits before a mirror. Makeup is applied with precision, costumes are adjusted, and an ordinary identity begins to dissolve. Moments later, the actor steps onto the stage and enters a story that first took shape more than four centuries ago.

It is this brief interval — between the everyday self and a stage character — that French artist Esther Imard seeks to capture in her paintings.

Imard, recipient of the 2025 Yishu 8 French Young Artist Award supported by Boucheron, arrived in Beijing in April for a residency at Yishu 8, an art platform housed in the former Sino-French University. Living in a hutong (alleyway), studying Chinese, and attending performances, she gradually immersed herself in the city's theatrical and social rhythms.

Her connection to theater, however, predates Beijing. Imard describes a childhood spent around a suburban Paris theater where her father served as co-director.

"I was wandering around the empty theater, on stage, playing hide-and-seek under the bleachers with my brother, and bothering the lighting manager," the 26-year-old artist recalls. "It was like being home, with a huge family made up of different people."

She describes the theater as a "safe space" rather than a distant cultural institution. "If a play needed a child on stage, I was happy to play a small role," she says.

That continuity was disrupted during her studies at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris, when her father lost his position following a managerial transition at the theater. "I felt like part of my childhood was left there," she says.

To remain close to that world, she worked as an usher in a Paris theater while studying fine arts, dividing her days between painting and evening shifts. Later, she interned in stage painting at the Paris Opera, an experience that reshaped her understanding of artistic production.

"The purpose of stage painting is to make your individuality disappear," she says. "All the hands involved in a project must harmonize. It's a wonderful feeling to paint with other people."

Imard's first encounter with Peking Opera came through Chen Kaige's film Farewell, My Concubine. She later attended a live performance of The Orphan of Zhao in Paris, an experience she describes as formative.

"I was mesmerized by the singing, the costumes, the makeup — everything," she says.

When she arrived in Beijing for her residency, she had already prepared by reading extensively on Peking Opera. With support from Yishu 8, she also met performers and entered rehearsal and backstage spaces — access that became central to her work.

At a production of Dabaoguo, Tan Huangling and Er Jingong at the Mei Lanfang Theatre, she observed not only the stage performance but the backstage environment.

"I think there are not many differences between the backstage of the Paris Opera and the Mei Lanfang Theatre," she says. "Singers warming up, practicing tongue twisters, eating a quick snack before going on stage — the atmosphere is quite similar."

However, she was struck by one element unique to Peking Opera culture: the altar dedicated to Erlang Shen.

"I had read about it, but had never seen it," she says. "Seeing the respect performers show was very moving. There is no such thing in France."

These backstage observations now define the core of her painting practice.

At her Beijing studio, Imard presented portraits of performers from Dabaoguo, Tan Huangling and Er Jingong, depicted during the makeup application process.

"I hope people can see the actors behind their makeup — their humanity," she says. "At that moment, they are not their everyday selves, but not yet fully their characters either."

She is drawn to what she calls a "tension in identity". "There is vulnerability in this state," she says. "It is a very delicate moment. It moves me deeply."

In addition to the portraits, she is developing a large-scale painting of four performers waiting in the wings — fully costumed, poised before going on stage.

For Yishu 8 founder Christine Cayol, Imard's work echoes a European pictorial tradition while remaining grounded in lived observation. The dark, staged compositions suggest anticipation — "something about to happen", as she describes it.

Among the performers Imard has painted is Zhang Yandong, who portrays Yang Shixiang in the show. During an open day at the studio, he and fellow actor Song Ruoxuan performed selected vocal excerpts, offering visitors an encounter with the vocal traditions of Peking Opera without the costumes.

The residency has also deepened into personal exchanges. "There is great generosity in how people here share their culture," Imard says. "I have fallen in love with Beijing and its people."

As her time in the city draws to a close, she returns to a single question: "When will I be able to come back?"