Promesse d’argile &

Promesse Somewhere/Nowhere

(Promise of Clay & Promise of Somewhere/Nowhere)

2022

Project created for the 39th International Symposium of Contemporary Art of Baie-Saint-Paul.
Curator : Sylvie Lacerte. Theme : Time and Things.

Promise of Clay: Wood, gesso, drywall from a wall in my house, various paper stock (the dailies Le Devoir [2021], Le Journal de Québec [2021], and Le Soleil [2021], the weekly Le Charlevoisien [2021]), water taken from the Saint Lawrence River at high tide, clay taken from the Saint Lawrence River at low tide.

Promise of Somewhere/Nowhere: Wood, gesso, drywall from a wall in my house, various paper stock (Climate Atlas of Canada [1987], Blueline account book, The Times Atlas of the World, the work Somewhere better than this place/Nowhere better than this place by Felix Gonzales-Torres), water taken from the Saint Lawrence River at high tide, clay taken from the Saint Lawrence River at low tide.

Each: 63 X 180 X 8 cm. Privates Collections.

In the drywall of my house, I cut out an outline of my daughter, then transported this form to Baie-Saint-Paul and divided it into two symmetrical parts. I set each part horizontally and every day for one month, covered each with paper. The paper, cut beforehand and immersed in water taken from the St Lawrence River, accumulated in successive layers, following the drywall relief. As it dried, the paper formed a landscape of mountains and valleys, inspired by Baie-Saint-Paul and its impact crater from millions of years ago.