Artist Martine Thoquenne

Martine Thoquenne was born in northern France in 1956 where she studied for a Fine Art degree at L’Ecole des Beaux Arts de Cambrai. She moved to London in 1980 and continued her studies at Saint Martin’s School of Art on the New Artist Film course from 1982-6, followed by MA in Film at the Royal College of Art 1987–9. Thoquenne has worked across many media including music, photography and primarily experimental film.  Her film practice reflects her French upbringing, her integration to the UK and its subcultures of the 1980s, and her commitment to a feminist discourse. Her award-winning short films have toured extensively at international film festivals, most recently the Oberhausen Short Film Festival 2022, and were exhibited in key exhibitions of the 1980s and 1990s, such as  Celluloid Bodies, ICA, London  (1987); The New Pluralism: British Film and Video 1980-1985, Tate Britain, London (1985) . Made in 1982, Faster Princess uses a mixture of live action, cut-outs and pop-up animation to tell the story of a young woman preparing herself for a ball. The artist explains: ‘The reason I felt strongly about making it is because I know I’m not the only woman with this sort of fantasy or experience; they are the foundations of every woman’s part and rediscovering them can answer questions.’ She lives and works in the Midlands.