From the Film Maker:

It took me a while to choose a painting, but I always knew I wanted my animation to be about a person’s journey through life. It occurred later to me that probably the best way to exploit this idea was the simplest: travelling.

I wanted to create a story that people could relate to by creating a story that relates to myself, and the journey that took me where I am today. That is how I ended up making my main character a young girl who is lost and trying to find herself.

I found it very interesting that Monet began to paint the Gare St Lazare after his own journey from London to Paris. I tried to merge my style with a few strokes of Monet’s. I wanted my story not only to be inspired by the theme of the painting but also to be able to see some of its original style in my animation.

Cecile Elsass

A piece inspired by Claude-Oscar Monet, The Gare St-Lazare, 1877