SMALL GALLERY

February 9 – March 9, 2024

Laurence Belzile

Through the Gardens

Reception + Artist Talk: Friday, February 9th at 5pm

Through the Gardens invites contemplation on the poetic act of wandering through nature by delving into the evocative possibilities of abstraction. Laurence Belzile explains that gardens, with their myriad interpretations, parallel the indistinct nature of abstraction within her artistic practice.

Using specific colours and forms, Belzile reclaims so-called feminine pictorial elements, inscribing them with both softness and forcefulness, into a western tradition of abstract painting historically dominated by male figures. Favouring the use of organic forms, muted colours, hues of pink and delicate lines, the artist revalues these gendered visual codes.

Within the created ambiguous atmospheric spaces, organic forms take shape and unfold, evoking sensitive, colourful, and dynamic landscapes using pencil crayon or acrylic. The use of dark and washed tones within the compositions introduces luminous contrasts, portraying fragments of a fictional, nebulous, and tumultuous environment through strange effects of light and shadow.
Tensions unfold within the artworks, revealing movements of descent, ascent, or upliftment, heightened by the work’s verticality. The deliberate use of lines that delicately brush, yet never touch, the physical boundaries of the supports amplifies the demarcated nature of each image, instilling a palpable sensation of tension.

Laurence Belzile was born in Gaspésie, QC in 1994. She now lives and works in Vancouver, BC. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Concordia University with a major in painting and drawing, and a Master of Fine Arts from Laval University. In recent years, she has exhibited her works in various group and solo exhibitions, including at Champagne et Paradis Gallery (2022), Montcalm Gallery (2022), and Kamouraska Art Center (2018). Her work is included in the City of Boucherville public collection as well as the Méduse collection.