Mathilde Laillet

A graduate of the prestigious Gobelins school, Mathilde Laillet is a versatile artist based in Angoulême, moving fluidly between illustration, comics, and animation. Her expertise as a storyboard artist grants her a keen sense of staging and narrative rhythm, making her a privileged observer of the dynamics of movement and light. She is currently focusing her research on her first graphic novel, Les Oiseaux de l'Orage (The Storm Birds), set to be published by Glénat in 2027.

As an active member of the Marsam collective, Mathilde develops a graphic signature where the power of natural elements dialogues with the intimacy of her characters. Her line, enriched by her experience in animation, captures the ephemeral and the atmospheric with poetic precision. Whether through her prints or her long-term narrative projects, she strives to build immersive universes where the setting becomes a character in its own right. Between contemplation and dramatic tension, Mathilde Laillet shapes stories that resonate as sensitive echoes of our relationship with the world.

For her residency at Rocabella, Mathilde Laillet immerses herself in the collective project 'Future Archaeologies.' Moving from animation studios to the gardens of the Riviera, she intends to explore the concept of the 'sanctuary' through a solarpunk and low-tech lens. The Rocabella estate, with its neo-classical architecture and lush nature, serves as the ideal setting for a speculative fable where humanity relearns how to inhabit the coastline.

The project involves developing a series of comic plates and atmospheric research focused on resilience. Mathilde will use her storyboarder's eye to scenograph the estate, transforming the villas into vestiges of a radiant future where technology becomes organic and discreet. She will pay particular attention to the 'storm birds'—a metaphor for environmental vigilance—that will inhabit her drawings. At Rocabella, she aims to capture the unique light of the Var region to create a visual archive where the splendor of the past feeds the utopia of tomorrow, offering a vision of the Mediterranean as a haven of peace and reconstruction.