Photograph by Erin Little
For many years, I’ve created artworks based on my surroundings and my interpretation of how people manifest themselves in these environments. I was always driven by social and political interactions in our society but never was I analyzing my own personal journey in relation to the world I live in. For the first time, with this new series of paintings, I am allowing myself to revisit a body of work that started years ago. Instead of erasing the past, I am embracing the meaning and the marks already made while manipulating and adding new emotions to these engaged stories. “Gravité” is the culmination of personal events that lead to an aerial world where perspective has no meaning and the human body gets disoriented in it.
In these works, the human form as well as materials get lost in the making. Tradition and techniques are manipulated in a manner that are chemically abnormal. The “gravité” takes place with visual references and also in many uncontrolled ways. Not only do I (Not only do I embrace instability in the process) I allow myself to get destabilized but I also let the chemical fluids take control of the outcome of these paintings. There is a complete acceptance in how the gravité is manifesting itself and how it dictates the course of the actions. These phenomena are also part of my own journey with how events manifest themselves in my personal life.
While creating something very intimate, I want the viewers to experience and find their own voyage in the work. Returning to the foundations of painting gave me the chance to engage in a dynamic visual dialogue through a variety of materials and media. Investigating the “highs” in contrasts, textures, lines, drawings and photo transfers, I am in search of lows – as in grounding - in these unsettling aerial environments.
Follow Instagram @lplachapelle