Nanténé Traoré
Fractured self
Imagine yourself as a mosaic—each shard a memory, each fragment a story. Identity is fragmented, nonlinear, imperfect. Through collage, artists reassemble past and present into visual diaries, embracing the messiness of memory to reveal a self that is ever-evolving, resilient, and beautifully incomplete.
View SeriesNanténé Traoré
Nanténé Traoré’s work blurs the line between image and text, memory and emotion. Nanténé’s photographs feel like half-remembered dreams—soft at the edges, sharp at the core—paired with words that echo like conversations you’ve longed to hear. As a French artist and photographer, Nanténé explores identity as something fluid and in flux, using collage not just as a method but as a metaphor. Nanténé’s art assembles fragments—memories, gestures, emotions—into visual poems that speak to the nonlinear, layered nature of the self. Through themes of gender and transformation, Nanténé reveals how we continuously reshape who we are from what we’ve held, lost, or imagined. In Nanténé’s hands, the fractured self becomes a resilient, creative force—where beauty lies not in perfection, but in the act of piecing oneself back together.”
Episode
Explore the artist's work, stories, and experiences tied to this episode's theme.
"I think I really try to explore this duality, creating images that can be potentially violent, but where there is no actual violence inside them. I think I have experienced a lot of violence, so I’m not interested in adding more violent images."
- Nantene Traore
Les gens n’existent jamais vraiment
The softness of the image draws you in, yet its blurred edges suggest a fleeting moment—fragile, impermanent. The title, translating to “People never truly exist; they are characters we invent,” invites us to question the way we construct others in our memories, shaping them into stories that may or may not be true. Like a half-remembered dream, this photograph captures intimacy as both an anchor and an enigma, reflecting the quiet ache of connection.
Nanténé Traoré x Marc Beyney-Sonier
Nantene's Phone Rarities
“I feel like the years I lived from ten to twenty-three are still years that’s I’m still processing. I don’t know if that’s something shared by others, because those are the teenage years, a period of physiological formation that is extremely important. Or maybe it’s just that I had a rather unstructured life during those years."
- Nantene Traore
Fractured & Suspended
Traoré’s work is committed to the emotional weight of the ordinary. A bed, a shadow, a wall—each charged with quiet urgency. The stillness vibrates with vulnerability, blurring the personal and collective. Nothing happens, yet everything stirs. These are images that don’t just depict space, but inhabit it. In a world suspended, they offer not comfort but recognition. To linger, to feel, to stay with discomfort becomes an act of resistance—presence as protest, awareness as engagement.
Exhibition: I've been feeling immensely alone
Group show at Reiffers Art Initiative Foundation ; “1000 milliard d’images” (2025)
Across Identity Lines
Drawing from four years of work, it’s a manifesto of his current interests. Explicit depictions of trans bodies are rare, but allusions to transsexuality run throughout. Through close-ups—feet, hands, blurred limbs—he suggests narratives without showing everything. This indirect strategy invites viewers to project their own stories, gently urging identification across identity lines, in a possibly illusory hope of shared experience.
Featured Artist
Meet the artist featured in this episode—explore their profile & artworks.
Nanténé Traoré is a photographer and author. His numerous silver series oscillate between documentary traces of the environments he comes into contact with, and poetic journeys where multiple stories of love and life can be read. His archival work focuses in particular on trans* environments. His writing, in tense flow, questions the notions of plural intimacies, love and memory.
More Works By: Nanténé Traoré
Next Episode
Keep exploring—head to the next episode to discover more.
Gal Schindler
Womanhood as a dynamic process of becoming—Gal Schindler’s layered paintings explore identity, transformation, and the fluid boundaries of the self.
View Episode