ABOUT THE ARTIST

Maryse Ménard grew up in Montreal, in a family where art and culture were omnipresent. At a very young age, she was immersed in the work of her mother, a painter who attended the École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal during the Refus global era. Since childhood Maryse has had a great artistic sensitivity and a marked interest for the knowledge of the craftsmanship. It is only recently that she allowed herself to trade her designer's hat for that of an artist. Her love affair with abstract art was instantaneous and striking.

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She graduated from the École de design de l'UQÀM, her work in product development has been recognized with numerous awards and distinctions. For more than thirty years, art and design have been at the heart of her multidisciplinary career as an industrial designer, ceramist, and jewelry designer. With this background, she now devotes herself with passion to abstract art.

 

During her recent solo and group exhibitions, she has had the opportunity to discuss about her art with the public. These exchanges enrich her research and reflection while pushing her to surpass herself. It is with enthusiasm that she continues her process to exhibit her work.

 

ARTISTIC APPROACH

I focus my research on what I consider artistically interesting and innovative, then offer it with transparency and vulnerability to others. My current work as a visual artist gives meaning to my diverse experiences.

 

I mainly use acrylic, graphite and charcoal on canvas and paper which I work in different ways with spatulas, scrapers of any size or other tools that I adapt. The exploration of tools, mediums and techniques is for me a real engine of creativity.

 

I like to play with saturation and the fusion of colors. I work on textures by exploring the juxtaposition of layers of paint that reveal themselves according to the pressure I apply with the spatulas. I also explore in my movements, different levels of friction between the support and the mediums. Scraping and marking allow me to reveal nuances. Often, the painted portions of the work do not completely cover the support so much that they seem to detach from it. This balance of negative and positive forms is part of the spatial composition of the painting.

 

My work is invested with the currents of Automatism and Expressionism. I am particularly interested in the visual transposition of the movement and the emotions which are translated on the support, in the pictorial capture of this space-time. Imbued with the sensitivity of human exchanges, my abstractions are current while being timeless. They express with power emotion, movement and depth. One of the challenges of abstract art often lies in the art of stopping just in time, not too early, not too late.

 

« In a constant search for balance, a true exchange takes place between my gestures, the medium and the support. Each movement is engaged and directly influences the gesture that follows. »

 

Attracted at first by the dynamism of the composition, the viewer is absorbed by the way the colors are juxtaposed and their different textures. The viewer often notices that the work seems to be in motion. He will have the impression of entering the painting, of discovering images and feelings that are his own. An invitation to play with the imaginary.