TRAVERSE
Printmaking in current art practices
September 15 to October 8, 2023
Salle Athanase-David,
2494 Rue de l'Église, Val-David, QC
Thursday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
L'Atelier de l'Île invites you to the third edition of TRAVERSE: Printmaking in current art practices, an event that allows the printed arts to be disseminated, reflected upon and deployed in the Laurentians. TRAVERSE fosters encounters between different forms of artistic expression and their dialogue with the printed arts, stimulating interaction between different disciplines and forging links between the public, artists and their work.
This third edition explores the theme of territory and living together in its physical, cultural and emotional realities. Through their works, the artists propose avenues for reflection through relational and/or contextual art approaches, which they have then translated into a technique specific to printed art. By encouraging interdisciplinarity, l'Atelier de l'île demonstrates its desire to stimulate the advancement of printmaking practices in contemporary art.
EXHIBITION
The exhibition presents the work of Mathilde Forest, Edward Fu-Chen Juan, Eva Quintas and Isabelle Tessier. The artists present works resulting from a three-week research and creation residency at Atelier de l'île. Their projects were developed in close connection with the village of Val-David and its citizens, either through encounters, found objects or studies of its flora and ecosystem.
RESIDENCY 1
EVA QUINTAS
MAI 14 - JUNE 2
Eva Quintas continues her exploration of territories as spaces for visual, artistic and civic expression. The book "La vision culturelle d'Athanase David" by sociologist Fernand Harvey served as a guideline for her project. Following numerous citizen meetings, the artist answers David’s initial questions: What do the citizens of Val-David retain today of the principles and values that underpinned his work in education and culture? What vision of culture do local people hold today? What has stood the test of time?
About the artist
My photographic practice is interdisciplinary and collaborative. It is characterized by an openness to other disciplines, mainly literature and multimedia, narrative and interactive processes. I have produced photographic exhibitions, web art projects, video installations and co-created photographic and literary fiction for exhibition space, radio, web and CD-ROM. Through an exploration of different narrative forms, my work questions the construction of identities, mythologies and cultural territories.
evaquintas.ca
RESIDENCY 2
ISABELLE TESSIER
JUNE 1 - 23
Through her installation, Isabelle Tessier places the body in relation to objects collected at random in public places. She photographs the body at the service of these objects, reversing the initial relationship by which the form and raison d'être of objects are determined as they respond to human needs or desires.
About the artist
Isabelle Tessier's multidisciplinary practice revolves around photographic processes. Living space, shared space and the human-object relationship are central themes in her approach. Through various manipulations of the image, she blurs the realist aspect of the photographic process to the point of abstraction. In 2022, she was awarded a production grant from CALQ as part of the Partenariat territorial program, to pursue her research into found objects. The artistic work she will pursue during her residency at Atelier de l'île is a continuation of this field of research.
RESIDENCY 3
MATHILDE FOREST
JUNE 20 - 30
SEPTEMBER 5 - 15
As part of her residency, Mathilde will continue her research into ecosystemic disappearance, focusing more specifically on recent advances in synthetic biology in the field of biodiversity conservation. Frequently involving genetic manipulation and the modification of biosystems, these new tools have in common that they transform living organisms to make them more resistant to human stressors. New motifs and visual narratives will emerge from the proliferation of these techniques for manipulating ecosystems, and their possible abuses. These will be rendered in the studio using a combination of traditional and digital printing techniques, principally wood laser engraving, embossing and four-color screen printing. This residency is being carried out in collaboration with biologists from Terre et Habitats.
About the artist
Mathilde Forest is a visual artist based in Tiohtià:ke-Mooniyang / Montréal. She holds a BFA from Concordia University and an MA in Political Science from Université Laval. She is a research associate at the Centre for Research on Innovations and Social Transformations (CRITS) at St-Paul University in Ottawa. She is the recipient of several creation grants from the Conseil des arts du Québec (CALQ), as well as grants from the Fonds de recherche du Québec - Société et Culture (FRQSC). Her most recent works have been shown in solo exhibitions in Montreal and Quebec City, as well as in New York, Basel and Kyoto. She frequently collaborates with artist Mathieu Gagnon as part of the Gagnon-Forest duo.
@mathildeforest.art
mathildeforest.ca
RESIDENCY 4
EDWARD FU-CHEN JUAN
SEPTEMBER 4 - 24
Edward Fu-Chen Juan explores cultural identity through the ecological and cultural history of the Laurentian region, particularly Val-David. Reflected in his work is a deepening of his connection to the Laurentian territory, his interest in its history, its biodiversity and how these elements help create the cultural identity of its inhabitants.
About the artist
Edward Fu-Chen Juan is a visual artist based in Vancouver, BC. As a queer BIPOC person with indigenous ancestry, He is developing his art practice to cultivate a connection between traditional craftsmanship and contemporary issues. Edward continues his research of plant material for printmaking and papermaking techniques, with the objective to create a mind of ecologically sustainable art production. This concept is cultivated from his ongoing cultural exchanges with artists he previously worked with nationally and abroad. From each experience, he is shared with the perspective and knowledge to create works in support of decolonization of contemporary art spaces.
We would like to thank the Canada Council for the Arts for its support in hosting artists in residence for TRAVERSE.