MAISON24
"Who I am"
"What I am"
“Understanding ‘Who I Am’ to Know ‘Where I’m Going’.”
Maison24 was born from a question. "Who I am ?"
Who am I? In a life where the primary quest is to give it meaning.
The search for meaning in one’s own existence goes beyond the obvious instinct for survival, common to every animal. Beyond this innate drive : “I must not die” ; inexplicable yet inalienable, what truly gives life meaning is finding one’s place in the world.
Understanding how the unique nature of each human being should shape their existence.
I make a clear distinction between “survival” and “living.”
To me, survival can be described as follows: navigating society, feeling integrated, acquiring skills and knowledge, building a career that provides stability, and potentially creating a family.
In short, the goal of this life is to survive in the safest and most comfortable way possible until death, while ensuring the continuity of the species.
It is within this logic that many people pursue the desire to “be rich”: the more money I have, the more I can achieve these two fundamental needs : comfort and security.
But if the purpose of life were limited to this pursuit, what would truly distinguish us from one another?
And above all, why choose to survive if we have no reason to exist?
What separates the act of “living” from that of “surviving”?
I firmly believe that living is a matter of a state of being, not merely a state of existence. To live is to become an actor, a creator of one’s presence in this world. It is the conscious choice to meet oneself, to understand oneself, and to act in alignment with one’s deepest aspirations.
To experience the world through one’s own eyes, sensitivity, and humanity.
Survival is inherent to life. It is essential to understand that seeking to survive is obvious. But it is equally necessary to seek to give life meaning.
By exploring our inner world, we discover how to truly inhabit our life, rather than merely pass through it.
“How can I know ‘where I’m going’ if I don’t know ‘who I am’?”
But then, how can I know “Who I Am”?
From 01. to 05.
Self-Knowledge
as a Path to Otherness.
01.
“Each man carries the entire form of the human condition.” - Michel de Montaigne
“It was through exchanges with those close to me that I realized their experiences resonated within me. That our conversations and the stories of their lives allowed me to understand aspects of my own existence to better understand myself, to better see myself."
Maison24 reintroduces the human being as the central subject in the study of the Self.
Experiencing one’s own life and reflecting on the lives of others to understand the world and one’s place within it.
Self-knowledge is knowledge grounded in the experience of one’s own life, and more precisely, in our dialogue with life ; in what we feel, in the emotions that pass through us.
“To understand oneself is to understand the human condition.”
We are all condemned to be human, condemned to be born, to grow within society, to age, and ultimately to die.
Life is an undeniable inevitability. We can see it as a dark tragedy, or choose to see it as an opportunity.
Despite different life circumstances, certain stages and feelings along this journey remain universal.
Thus, by knowing ourselves, we become capable of entering a mutual understanding of others, and vice versa.
However, the goal is not to understand who we are only in our final moments of existence.
So what tools would allow us to share this knowledge, both intimate and universal?
What instruments allow the study and sharing of these life experiences?
Self-knowledge as knowledge of the human species
Seeing Art as Knowledge.
"Creating Art for Yourself is Creating Art for Others"
Maison24 focuses on Art as an outlet.
A form of Art whose purpose is not solely to entertain or present “beauty,” but to serve as a medium, a language through which emotions and experiences can be expressed and translated into a perceptible, shareable form.
Beyond aesthetic contemplation, this tool allows each person, on a daily basis, to feel, to question themselves, to be understood, and even to be supported.
This Art enables the representation of both the tangible and the intangible. It allows emotions to be communicated, through emotion itself.
Maison24 supports Art in its sensitive and reflective dimension, understood as a form of cognitive and inner awakening, a language that awakens rather than analyzes.
Artistic dialogue becomes a way to explore and understand one’s own emotions, thoughts, and experiences, rather than simply an aesthetic or technical exercise.
Art allows us to truly live because it enables us to realize ourselves.
Through the act of creation, humans share a form of knowledge: the experience of their own humanity.
Thus:
02.
« In Art, everyone can be both master and apprentice »
“We play the notes of our own existence. We might explain that a piece of music speaks to us because we resonate at the same frequencies as it.
Our life is like a long melody, vibrating and alternating between high and low frequencies.
Art guides us because it is the sensory version of our existence.”
One Message, Many Languages.
“Just as there are infinite ways to perceive the world, there are infinite ways to translate those perceptions.”
03.
Dialogue with Art is not an academic exercise, but an intuitive one.
Art appeals to our sensitivity.
This bodily reaction is entirely subjective and varies from person to person.
Fortunately, there is not a single language of Art, but a multitude. The same message can take different forms and “speak” with precision, resonating with each of us
One of the most concrete variations of this broad knowledge is certainly philosophy a subject briefly studied at the final stage of secondary education. It uses a theoretical language that usually speaks to only a minority.
However, these lessons and reflections studied in class can be perfectly expressed through other forms.
We can cite: the fictional or real story of a book, the moral of an animated series, the plot of a film, the composition of a painting, the life of an artist expressed in a song and translated into melody…
This knowledge, with which we maintain such a privileged relationship, consciously or unconsciously, shapes and guides our evolution.
How many people have felt supported and closer to themselves when engaging with one of the forms of Art mentioned above?
And how many more could feel better if provided with tools designed to foster self-understanding and understanding of life?
Maison24 seeks to popularise the Arts as a sensory subject of study, a knowledge that is both intimate and universal. It aims to give Art a reflective and formative dimension, far removed from mere entertainment or academic intellectualization.
“I see our relationship with Art as a conversation we might have with a close friend.
An indirect dialogue between the artist and their work, and then between the work and its audience.
The Maison24 language.
“I want to paint accuracy in its spontaneity, not in its technique.”
04.
The works of Sakina Lafleur are the illustrated version of the vision of Art supported by Maison24.
They aim to come as close as possible to the reality of an experience, of a lived moment, while allowing the viewer to interact intimately with the work by projecting their own reality onto it.
Since prehistoric times, the first human representations were engraved in rudimentary petroglyphs, symbolizing actions or scenes of daily life.
Later, in Antiquity, similar figures were used in Egyptian hieroglyphs and African, Asian, and other regions’ rock art to represent abstract concepts or divine figures.
The stick figure is the most instinctive incarnation of the human form. It is a universal, timeless, and accessible mode of expression.
It allows messages to be conveyed neutrally, beyond cultural, physical, or linguistic barriers.
Like a child’s drawing, it expresses and suggests a raw and sincere vision of the world, unshaped by technical skill.
“By simplifying the form, we amplify the essence.”
The “abstract” form that composes the work conveys emotion and feeling. It sets the rhythm of the scene, giving it a voice. It gives shape and color to what is true only in the intensity and physical upheaval it evokes.
These works are a harmony between feeling and experience, the interplay of what occurs in the physical world and in the mind, happening simultaneously.
“Through my works, I seek neither complexity nor simplicity.
I seek only the authenticity brought by a raw and subjective form of the experience of life.”
Maison24: Etymology & Meaning.
“I don’t want to paint what is beautiful, I want to paint what is true, I want to paint life.”
05.
The creation of the name Maison24 is partly inspired by Egyptian etymology.
Indeed, since the earliest civilizations, such as Ancient Egypt, humanity has used symbols, gestures, graphic signs, and artistic creations to express and share ideas, emotions, and beliefs. Hieroglyphs and temples were built in honor of the gods who were at the origin of these discoveries.
More than simple monuments, they conveyed religious, artistic, philosophical, and scientific concepts that formed the basis of universal wisdom.
Thoth is the name of the deity that partly inspired the name Maison24.
This benevolent deity is at the origin of creative speech, knowledge, and wisdom. As the god of scribes, he was believed to have invented writing, hieroglyphs, and elements of science such as mathematics and astronomy. He is also considered the creator of the Arts: music, drawing, architecture, and even magic.
Ancient Egyptian centers of learning were under the protection of the god Thoth and were called Per-Ânkh. The concept of Per Ankh (Pr-ˁnḫ), literally “House of Life,” is linked to this deity, as it refers both to an institution and a place of knowledge where scribes were trained and sacred texts were preserved.
Thus, “Maison24” translates to “House of Life.” It is a space where knowledge is shared, based on personal experience and individual perception, conveying the intimate and universal understanding that life itself represents.
A House that speaks of life, by humans, for humans.
The number 24 is a symbol that has accompanied Sakina Lafleur since childhood. 24 represents the manifestation of life that guides her, a sign that she is on the right path.
24 is Life.
24 is Ânkh.
Thus, in its simplest translation: Per Ânkh – House of Life – Maison24
This concept embodies the spirit of Maison24. Just like the Per Ânkh centers of learning, this foundation seeks to cultivate and preserve language in all its forms, inspiring and transmitting the values of creativity and universal knowledge.
