Matthieu Cosse’s Instagram page is an online repository of his artworks, and it is fascinating to scroll through. The French painter and illustrator has the ability to give movement and personality to simple strokes; like dreamscapes in the minds of children brought to life, animal figures become fantastical through unusual proportions, the edges of sky and land blur in scenic watercolour depictions, and intuitive brushstrokes in oil contour light and shadow onto portraiture.

Cosse’s painterly worlds have been immortalised in a gamut of projects, such as ceramics for contemporary art gallery We Do Not Work Alone and illustrations for publications like AD Magazine, Profane and The Fence. Collaborators also include brands like French apothecary Diptyque, Poterie Ravel and architectural designer Pierre Yovanovitch, one of which is a mural spanning a vaulted ceiling in Villa Noailles – a mansion designed in 1923 by French architect Robert Mallet-Stevens.

But his work with Hermes is the most recognised across the world. For the French fashion maison, he has designed the Isola di Primavera scarf, and the Escale a la Plage bag and scarf. There is also the Tropiquet beach towel that conjures up a balmy tropical holiday with a coconut tree and tangerine sun against turquoise waters and a coral sunset.

Cosss’s latest project is not for sale, but in situ. He was in Singapore for a week in late April to create the latest window display for the Hermes store at Liat Towers, which will be up until August 2024. It is a cheerful mise en scene of larger-than-life chess pieces set loose from their chessboard, hovering in space, bursting through walls and perched upright gleaming at passers-by. Monochrome tones typically associated with the game are replaced by acid yellow and earthy green, as well as bits of salmon pink against a cobalt-and-baby blue chessboard floor.

“The idea was to create a chessboard, but fantasy-like. Each piece was inspired by an architectural element of the Faubourg building. I interpreted them to make them ‘Hermes-styled’, fun and original in a way. The reference I had in mind was the book Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll,” shared Cosse whom I spoke with at a media event that had the painter showing his effortless brushwork. In the story, Alice peers into a mirror and is transported into another world where the game of chess is heavily featured.

Titled Checkmate at the Faubourg, the window design follows the Hermes 2024 theme The Spirit of the Faubourg, which pays homage to the famous Hermes store on rue du Faubourg Saint Honore. Those in the know would recognise the store’s artificer on the rooftop turn into a bishop, his horse into a knight, the balusters into prawns, and an arch window – one of many such apertures fronting the Faubourg – from where a sun bursts forth yellow rays.

The composition is full of layered narratives. For example, when I ask about a painting of a pink clock on a piece of plexiglass, Cosse explained: “There’s a glass clock in the window at the Faubourg. I wanted to make a reference to this. Also in chess, time is important. In Carroll’s book there is always this element of time. I guess time is also related to childhood and the fantasy world, because time collapses when you play, when you start to indulge in your imagination and dreams.”

While this project is not Cosse’s largest work – he has hand-painted a 130-yard mural at Hermes’ Rue de Sevres boutique titled L’Odyssee d’Hermes – it is his first window installation. It is also the painter’s first time in Singapore. In fact, he shared that it was more than a decade ago that he was in Asia, for only a few days in Japan. Naturally, he found the city-state and its culture fascinating. Laksa and nasi padang were two cuisines that he managed to try as he spent most of the time working on the window.

Cosse’s body of work speaks volumes but his personality is more introverted. The conversation started off quietly polite but turned lively when we embarked on a discussion on the technicality of his art, such as the choice of watercolour for his work for Hermes as “you can get really strong effects with a relative simplicity of means.” Cosse elaborated, “I think of the colours and the drawings simultaneously. That’s what you do when you draw with watercolour; you draw and paint at the same time.” Another inspiration for the window display – and Cosse’s art in general – is David Hockney, especially the British artist’s stage works. “An opera stage set designed in the 70s called The Rake’s Progress for Stravinsky was the main reference for me. I don't have much experience in scenography, but I guess it’s related,” Cosse mentioned.

Hockney is one of the most influential artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. His striking landscapes and visual commentaries on urban life using colour and expressive lines were defining of the 1960s pop art movement. When I asked Cosse which other artists have influenced his art, he pointed out leanings toward anonymous ‘artists’ rather than famous names.

“I like to go to civilisation museums or ancient art museums where you don’t go for the names but look at the craft and objects, and paintings with no signatures,” said Cosse, before enquiring about the Ancient Civilisation Museum in Singapore.

Cosse’s art journalist-turned-childhood educator mother might have had a role in shaping his interests but it was never enforced. “I didn’t think of it as a career; I just kept on drawing,” Cosse remarked. “For some reason, my parents encouraged it because they saw it was a pleasure.

Culturally, it was acceptable to go to a fine arts school in France as long as I was into it.” Art was also an avenue for him to expend his boyish energies.

At the age of 18, Cosse started his formal art education at the l'Atelier de Sevres. It was in 2018 when his work was spotted by Hermes in an art exhibition at the Centre d’art Contemporain Chanot. The artist said: “They proposed a meeting and asked me to design a beach towel that ended up being the Tropiquet. That’s how it started. It was a good experience that I wished to do again. So, I went on to design the scarves, accessories and the L’Odyssee d’Hermes mural.

When asked if he would want to design more window displays, Cosse is more than keen. But first, he will take on a more life-changing role as that of a father in July. “My wife and I are going to have a baby so we are taking the opportunity to find a bigger house as well as bigger studio because my current studio is a bit small. But in Paris, like many big cities, it’s difficult to get a proper studio in the city centre so we’re moving closer to the suburbs.”

On whether he would like his child to follow in his footsteps as an artist, Cossé laughed. “I don't know how I would react. I guess it’s not something you can predict. But it will change everyday life for me I’m sure, and hopefully, also bring something more to my art.”