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Véronique Chagnon Côté

Canada

Continuously conscious of the ineffable link between the point of view of the spectator and that of the painter, I use my lived experience of nature and architecture to construct pictorial stagings that propose spatial contradictions. Several strategies are combined on the surface: the creation of false sites, the overlapping of multiple spaces, references to the history of perspective, the reversal of points of view, and reference to various architectural eras. Everything comes together to thwart the perception of the viewer who plunges his gaze into these uncertain environments.

- Excerpt from artist statement

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Inquire︎

What interests you in the study or exploration of space and how we perceive it?

The perception of space is a subject that I am deeply fascinated with. Within my practice of painting the concept of “space” plays an important role and is a guiding element and engine in my process. It presents multiple paradoxes which are all concentrated on the surface of the canvas. Thinking through these ideas and how they may be applied through painting, a multitude of paradoxes come into play and make this medium one that's most interesting to work with. For example: how the surface of the canvas and its real or imitated depth can be manipulated, how composition allows a place for shapes and colors to inhabit, how to work through the concepts of figuration or the representation of the world through images, how to allow a place for the “self” and the other. These notions are applied when thinking through the idea of space; these views have fascinated painters for hundreds of years.

In the series presented for YNGSPC, I was deeply captivated by maps and their symbolic representation of selected places, I was also interested in architectural plans that offer a particular conceptualization of space. These objects aim to give us access to a global structure larger than the human scale by miniaturizing a large space. We project ourselves into a place as we project ourselves into a painting, we adopt a point of view, we go through it, we feel it. These objects are similar in the way that there is a kind of condensation of information in a confined area. I like to use these types of spaces to turn them into matter, visible both on the surface of the painting and in its representation.

You employ a process of acrylic painting and transfer; can you describe how you start a painting or how that transfer process works? What do you enjoy most about working with acrylic?

In my last series of paintings, I produced 2 types of canvases; the first type being a more traditional rectangular format, and the second type being an unconventional format of natural shapes, such as a plant or a flower. For the painting “The Door”, like most traditional rectangular paintings, I produced a virtual architectural model using architectural software, in doing so I was able to then design a large house with several different rooms.

I approached this project by putting myself in the place of an architect and worked through an architectural lens. The paintings created for this project all reveal different views on this model/place. The architectural and two-dimensional plans (from a museum in Canada) were used to be projected as material and then elevated in three dimensions. They transform into a hypothetical place which, filtered by virtual technology, acquires a new identity. Architecture then becomes an immutable setting that allows me to stage other personal inclinations: romanticism, modernity, nature, construction, feminism. I can also control the point of view, the framing as well as the lighting and shadows.

Once my views of this place have been chosen, I use an acrylic transfer process which involves printing a sheet of paper of this fictitious space and then impregnating only the ink on the surface of the painting. The image then serves as a guide to which I apply several dozen thin coats of paint. Thus, the space is again filtered by the long and elaborate process of painting which infuses it with a body, an authentic material presence. The same happens for the unconventional formats like “The Shell” or “The Branch”. The difference in these later works is that the representation of depth leaves space for the real object. It represents both architectural plans specific to the building and an organic form specific to nature and these paintings enter into dialogue with the real architecture of the exhibition. Finally, acrylic with its rapid drying time allows me to accelerate the process of multiple layers.

Your works are layered and hint at hidden spaces beyond. Is it important to have a sense of mystery?

Yes, it is absolutely important for me to work with mystery within my works. Using several dozen layers of transparent paint allows me to build a slightly wispy effect within the shapes. There is a back and forth between the deep colorations and those on the surface, and this is what gives the acrylic material a body, preventing it from being too much "plastic" visually. In “The Door” the dark space in front of the door is constructed in several layers of different blues, reds and yellows in order to naturally create an almost dark twilight on the surface. When you see these paintings in real life, the multiple shades that have been built up have a shimmering effect on them. The mysterious aspect in these paintings is also important, because I believe that the works should be objects that you observe over an extended period of time. Taking the time to resolve the logic of the painting, the logic of the pictorial space is at the heart of my approach. This is one way of reacting to the overconsumption of images in our contemporary time.

Certain forms and motifs are recurring, such as plants and shells. Is there a particular significance to these objects?

Above all else, I have emotional inclinations that lead me to use these natural forms in my paintings. I am passionately invested in the general cultural history of gardens and am always finding ways of integrating it into my work. There is also an iconographic revival of recurring forms in the history of representational painting. The shell and the rose are symbols of the feminine and in my works they are often the main characters. In my recent research of painting and the history of gardens, I have discovered the immense artistic production done by womens in certain arts that have been wrongly qualified as “minor”. The historical and inclusive reinterpretation of the history of art is very inspiring to me at the moment. I want to participate and highlight certain traditions such as floral art and decorative art of seashells. My next works will be directly linked to these new concepts.

(This interview has been translated from French.)

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