Ten years ago, Tristan Vyskoc thought his life was ending on the slopes of Mont Blanc. Following a near-death experience during an ultra-marathon that left him hospitalized with kidney failure, the former finance executive discovered an unexpected passion for painting that has transformed his entire existence. Now 54, Vyskoc has become a professional artist whose work is currently being exhibited at La Dame Blanche gallery in Serquigny, France.

Vyskoc's artistic journey began with a debilitating condition that emerged in May 2011 - a constant ringing in his ears that sounded like a fire truck siren. "I couldn't concentrate anymore. I was on the edge of the void. I was working in the finance world, and I had to sell the company I had just created," recalls Vyskoc. At the time, painting was merely a weekend hobby that helped him clear his mind from the stock markets, despite having taken about ten evening classes at the School of Fine Arts.

To combat the tinnitus, Vyskoc turned to running, which provided the only relief from the incessant noise. "It was while running that the noise stopped. I started running a lot and running literally saved me," he explains. This led him to participate in an ultra-trail race in Reunion Island, where he was born, and eventually to register for the prestigious Mont Blanc ultra-marathon in September 2015, often considered the world's most challenging by participants.

The Mont Blanc race nearly cost Vyskoc his life. "My kidneys stopped, I had to be transferred in absolute emergency to Paris," he recalls. Doctors painted a grim picture, suggesting he might need lifelong dialysis. While lying in his hospital bed, Vyskoc experienced what he describes as a near-death experience: "I left my body, I was levitating." He describes this moment not as a tunnel, but rather as a "soothing bubble" filled with "clouds."

After recovering without major complications except for the loss of taste and smell, Vyskoc went to rest on Île de Ré. It was there that unexpected moments began to impose themselves upon him. "I felt the need to paint and draw, in automatic writing. The gesture came naturally. It was almost like a trance," he explains. During those days by the sea, the former finance professional sketched, erased, and started over, painting without stopping until exhaustion, which temporarily subdued his tinnitus.

Being naturally analytical, Vyskoc needed to understand what was happening to him. Through research, he discovered an article about "acquired savant syndrome," a rare phenomenon where people develop exceptional scientific or artistic abilities after severe trauma. While uncertain if this applies to his case, Vyskoc believes he "recovered a gift" - possibly inherited from his grandfather, René-Marie Castaing, who won the Prix de Rome in 1924. "I had a gift within me and it came out at that moment. Something happened," he reflects.

The self-taught artist dove into this new world with much greater clarity than his chaotic early attempts at painting. Childhood memories began expressing themselves with ease on his black and white canvases, created with Indian ink. After two years, he participated in his first exhibition in Paris in 2017, followed by others in Lille, Chamonix, and Venice over the years.

Now a professional painter, Vyskoc has created a large fresco of mountains - sixteen views of Mont Blanc etched deep within him from the peaks where everything almost ended. "It's not a panorama, it's a mental map. The still vivid images of a route that led me near the red line," he illustrates. Another series pays homage to the primary forests of Reunion Island, where he lived until age 13 as the son of a business executive and an Air France flight attendant.

Vyskoc's artistic universe reflects places where he feels at peace. The almost hypnotic blue of mountains gives way to the green of vast vegetation where he loves to get lost. "The forest is a source of permanent reconnection to our deep self, to our vital impulse," he explains. He paints "to tell a story" and is currently working on a new series dedicated to the ocean world and its depths - "everything we haven't discovered yet."

Like his mountain and forest landscapes, environmental consciousness guides his work. "The more we look at nature, the more we respect it. And if we looked at the beauty of the world, we would be less tempted to destroy it," he believes. Interestingly, Vyskoc also embraces technological evolution, using artificial intelligence in his creative process. "I ask ChatGPT: can you make me an underwater cave with light? And the result is quite impressive," he admits.

Vyskoc shares his unique journey through conferences and coaching sessions, working with managers in the business world and cultural figures like orchestra conductors. "People asked me to accompany them and I got trained. I help them find the best in themselves. We see that there's real suffering in adapting to a changing world," he observes. When the tinnitus appeared in his life, he wondered how to live with it - the unbearable noise hasn't disappeared, but he has adapted and shown remarkable resilience.

Dividing his time between his Paris studio on Avenue de la Grande-Armée and Calvados, where he owns a residence near Blangy-le-Château, Vyskoc plans to spend increasing time in Normandy. "The skies, the lights are very inspiring," he concludes, certain that this peaceful atmosphere will allow him to expand his palette. His current exhibition continues through August 23, with the gallery open Saturdays and Sundays from 2 PM to 6 PM.