CHRISTOPHE PILLAULT was born in Iran, April 2, 1982, but now lives in France. An autistic savant, he is unable to talk, walk or feed himself. His artistic abilities were encouraged by his mother. In 1993, he developed his highly unusual and singular technique. Because he’s unable to use to hold a paintbrush with his fingers, Christophe uses his entire hands as his brushes, dipping them in paint and touching his surfaces directly to apply acrylics to canvas and paper.

Yet Christophe’s finished paintings are not mere smeared finger-paint works. They are striking due to the imaginative, and at times mystic characters pictured. It appears that Christophe is painting ethereal beings. His works were introduced to the US in 1998, by Dr. Laurence A. Becker, at the Mill Pond House Gallery in Smithtown, Long Island, NY. Since then, he has exhibited throughout Europe, Japan, and the U.S. One of his paintings was featured on the cover of the program of the 2003 Defeat Autism Now Conference. His art is also included in the M.I.N.D. Institute permanent collection.

See his works at www.savantsyndrome.org, and www.dialogueautisme.org.