At Art on Paper, French artist Fabian Dettori transforms Polaroids into luminous works of art, preserving fleeting moments with gold leaf and an unwavering belief in the preciousness of time.
Some artists document the world around them.
Others transform it.
Standing before the work of French artist Fabian Dettori at Art on Paper, it becomes clear that he is doing both simultaneously.
His pieces shimmer with an unusual presence. Polaroid photographs float across surfaces enriched with gold leaf, creating works that feel suspended somewhere between photography, painting, memory, and poetry. They possess a quiet intimacy that invites viewers to move closer, rewarding attention with layers of detail, texture, and emotion.
For Dettori, this blending of mediums feels almost inevitable.
His father was a photographer. His mother was a painter.
Growing up surrounded by both artistic languages, he naturally developed a practice that exists between the two. Rather than choosing photography or painting, he built a visual vocabulary that incorporates elements of both.
Today, he is widely recognized for a process that involves lifting the emulsion from Polaroid photographs and transferring it onto gold leaf. The resulting works are delicate, luminous, and deeply personal.
At the center of his practice is a fascination with time.
“We can buy houses. We can buy cars. But we cannot buy time.”
That simple observation has become one of the guiding principles behind his work.
Gold, traditionally associated with value and permanence, becomes a metaphor for moments that cannot be replaced. The material elevates ordinary experiences into treasured artifacts, encouraging viewers to consider the emotional significance of everyday life.
His photographs often depict women, flowers, landscapes, and intimate scenes drawn directly from his own experiences. Rather than constructing fictional narratives, Dettori documents his life through emotion.
The work becomes a visual diary.
Every image is rooted in lived experience, yet the final result transcends autobiography. Viewers recognize something universal within the photographs: memory, longing, beauty, loss, and the passage of time.
When asked where his ideas originate, Dettori turns to one of his artistic heroes, the painter Francis Bacon.
According to Dettori, Bacon once suggested that trying to explain inspiration is like trying to explain instinct. The creative impulse resists simple definitions.
For Dettori, inspiration emerges from sensitivity to life itself.
Artists, he believes, move through the world differently. They absorb details, emotions, and fleeting impressions that others might overlook. The hand follows instinct rather than the other way around.
That instinct was shaped early.
As a child growing up in Aix-en-Provence, the same city closely associated with Paul Cézanne, he was regularly taken to museums by his mother. At the time, he admits, he did not always appreciate those visits. Like many children, he sometimes resisted afternoons spent surrounded by paintings and history.
Looking back now, he recognizes how profoundly those experiences influenced him.
The visual legacy of artists such as Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne, and Edgar Degas remains embedded in his work. Their presence can be felt not through direct imitation but through atmosphere, sensitivity, and a commitment to capturing fleeting moments.
The influence is subtle but unmistakable.
Dettori approaches creativity as a way of living rather than a profession with defined working hours.
Inspiration arrives unexpectedly, and when it does, he follows it.
A late-night idea, a walk through a city, a chance encounter, or a forgotten object can all become the starting point for new work. Even while traveling, exhibiting, or attending fairs, the creative process never fully stops.
Art is not something separate from life.
It is life.
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Unlike artists who maintain extensive notebooks and planning systems, Dettori prefers a more intuitive approach. Rather than documenting every idea, he responds directly to the world around him.
A perfect example occurred just before the fair.
Walking through the city, he discovered a small rusted coin lying on the sidewalk. Most people would pass without noticing it. Dettori saw poetry.
That perspective reflects the influence of Japanese aesthetics, particularly the philosophy of wabi-sabi, which embraces imperfection, transience, and the beauty found in age and wear.
The coin became more than an object.
It became a symbol.
Similarly, many of the flowers that appear in his work are not purchased. They are found. He discovers them in unexpected places, brings them back to his studio, and transforms them into still-life compositions that celebrate fragility and impermanence.
These overlooked fragments of daily life become sources of wonder.
Dettori’s art asks viewers to slow down and pay attention to what is often ignored.
The effect is especially powerful when experienced in person.
His works interact with light in ways that photographs cannot fully capture. Gold surfaces shift as viewers move around them, creating changing reflections and subtle visual transformations. The pieces seem almost alive, revealing new qualities depending on the angle of observation.
It is no surprise that Art on Paper invited him to perform live demonstrations of his process during the fair.
Visitors are not only able to view the finished works but also witness the creation of the delicate gold-infused pieces in real time. The performances offer a rare glimpse into a process that is as meticulous as it is poetic.
Despite exhibiting internationally, this marks Dettori’s first appearance at Art on Paper.
The invitation came after fair organizers encountered his work at another exhibition and recognized its unique qualities. Surrounded by approximately twenty-five works on display, he has been introduced to a new audience eager to learn about both his process and philosophy.
The response has been overwhelmingly positive.
Visitors are fascinated not only by the visual beauty of the work but also by the ideas behind it. Conversations often begin with technical questions about Polaroids and gold leaf but quickly evolve into discussions about memory, emotion, and the value of time.
For Dettori, those exchanges are among the most rewarding aspects of exhibiting.
Art becomes a bridge between people.
As much as his work celebrates beauty, it also embraces melancholy. Dettori speaks openly about the importance of accepting difficult emotions rather than resisting them.
Melancholy, he explains, can be a source of poetry.
The challenge is allowing those emotions to inspire reflection without letting them become overwhelming. Within that balance lies creativity, sensitivity, and a deeper understanding of the human experience.
It is perhaps this combination of light and shadow that gives his work its emotional resonance.
The photographs preserve moments that have already passed.
The gold leaf transforms those moments into something timeless.
Together they create objects that remind us that life is fragile, memory is precious, and beauty often exists in places we least expect to find it.
About Tarik Talk Podcast
Tarik Talk Podcast takes listeners inside museums, galleries, artist studios, art fairs, and creative spaces around the world through conversations with artists, curators, collectors, cultural leaders, and creative professionals. Hosted by artist and podcaster Tarik Mendes, the show has featured more than 200 episodes across 50 seasons, filmed in over 10 countries and heard by audiences worldwide.