For several years, I signed my artworks under the name “Nonoss”. This pseudonym accompanied me in the early days of my practice, serving as a space of freedom where I could build my artistic world without having to immediately associate my identity with it.
Today, my approach has evolved. My exploration of identity (of what is revealed and what is concealed) has taken center stage in my work, while my artistic practice has now taken on a truly professional trajectory.
It therefore seemed natural to me to no longer hide behind a pseudonym.
From now on, I will gradually begin signing my works with my real name: Morgane Parmentier.
This change does not mean I am abandoning Nonoss, but rather marks the culmination of an evolution. Nonoss was the name under which my artistic world was built. Morgane Parmentier is the name under which I now wish to carry it forward and help it grow.
The Origins of Nonoss
Originally, Nonoss had nothing to do with art.
It was simply a nickname I’d been given as a teenager and had kept over the years. When I created my very first painting, I hadn’t given any thought to the question of a signature, an artist’s name, or the identity I wanted to build. I simply signed “Nonoss” on a whim.
And the name stayed.
In the beginning, my work was notably influenced by Pop Art and Street Art : two worlds where the use of a pseudonym is common. Little by little, Nonoss naturally became my artistic signature, and then the name under which my first works, exhibitions, and publications were presented.
But it was never intended as a strategy or a brand identity. It was simply the name that emerged when I started painting.
Then the work evolved
Over the years, my painting has moved away from those early influences to become more personal. By experimenting and evolving my practice, I have gradually built my own pictorial identity.
Portraiture has taken center stage. My exploration has centered on identity, invisible vulnerabilities, wounds, and what lies beneath appearances.
Kintsugi, materials, golden scars, the contrasts between light and darkness, and black light have gradually become elements of my artistic language. They are no longer merely aesthetic or technical choices: they are integral to my approach to the human condition, its vulnerabilities, and its capacity for transformation.
I have thus gradually found a style in which I recognize myself.
My work deeply explores what we choose to reveal and what we keep hidden. It is precisely this reflection that led me, in turn, to question the name under which I presented my works.
No longer hiding the name behind the works
As I’ve worked on what lies behind appearances, it has become less and less natural for me to maintain a distance between my identity and my work.
Nonoss accompanied me during the early years of my practice. That name allowed me to create, experiment, and freely build my own world. Today, my artistic approach is sufficiently established that I wish to fully embrace the artist behind the works.
This evolution also comes at a time when my career is taking on a more structured form: exhibitions, art fairs, collectors, submissions, and meetings with galleries now accompany the development of my work.
My goal is no longer simply to build an artistic universe, but to establish my practice on a long-term artistic trajectory.
In this context, it seems natural to me that my works should gradually be associated directly with my name: Morgane Parmentier.
So, what’s becoming of Nonoss?
Nonoss does not disappear.
This name is part of my artistic history. It is under this signature that a significant portion of my work has been created, and it will naturally continue to exist on the artworks and in the archives that bear it.
New works will gradually be signed Morgane Parmentier.
During this transition period, both signatures will therefore coexist. They refer to the same artist, simply at two different points in her career.
Nonoss was the name under which my artistic world was born.
Morgane Parmentier is the name under which I now wish to see it grow.
Ultimately, this change in signature naturally ties into one of the questions that runs through my work today: Who are we behind what we choose to show others? From now on, I’ve also chosen to reveal the name behind my works.
