“I like to let myself be guided by the spirit of the place.”

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prescient-innovations

6 min readJul 8, 2022

Meet Lise Létourneau, Artist in Residence

Meet Lise Létourneau, this month’s Artist in Residence. Lise works with textile and creates ephemeral installations in nature. She has been an active member of the Canadian visual arts community for more than twenty years, including as president of RAAV from 2007 to 2012. We talked to her about creating a permanent digital record of a fleeting work of physical art, changes to the art world over the past two decades, and how Mother Nature can sometimes carry your vision away.

Imprimo: Hi Lise, You’re answering our Artist in Residence interview from your studio in Shefford, Quebec. What’s the view from your window?

Lise Létourneau : From the windows of my studio I see only trees. Everything is green. When fall comes, I can already see the blue pipes connected to the trees of the nearby maple grove. I live in a small municipality in Estrie, or Eastern Townships, called Shefford, located between the cities of Franby to the west and Bromont to the southeast. I live close to all amenities while being surrounded by the magnificent mountain. My studio is spacious, bright and very functional. During the pandemic, I had to abandon art in situ. I rediscovered the joys of working in the studio.

I: You work with objects in nature and also with textiles (sometimes with both together). For many viewers — those of us discovering your work on Imprimo, for example — we encounter your work as a digital photograph of the tactile piece. Can you talk about how the physical and digital work together for you? Is this “translation” from physical to digital in mind as you work?

LL : When I design an in situ installation, it’s imperative to think about the best angle from which to photograph it. My often very ephemeral works don’t stand up to the weather for long. If I have included threads, wool or other materials, I remove them when I leave so as not to contaminate the space.

I: For work created to be in harmony with the place in which it is viewed, what comes first? The location? The idea for a piece? A theme or idea you want to explore through your art?

LL : Often, it is the place that inspires me and the place that determines the nature of the installation. Sometimes I have a precise idea, but that is rare. I like to let myself be guided by the spirit of the place.

I: What appeals to you about three-dimensional, tactile art? Both as an artist and as an art lover.

LL : I’m a big fan of texture and colour. Since the pandemic started, several textile collectives have been publishing the work of their members or are circulating works by internationally renowned artists. It is a pure joy to see all that textile art offers us to see.

I: Do you have any memorable stories from installing your work in outdoor environments that aren’t under your control? Can you share one with us?

LL : A work I produced in Montmagny comes to mind. It is part of a series I presented at the International Photo Festival of Antiparos in Greece last year. I was on the edge of the St. Lawrence River. The tide was low and there were green grasses sticking out through the grey mud. I had only my fingernails to cut with. The deeper I went, the softer the green became. I spent several hours making small bundles that I tied with stems. My idea was to insert the bundles between two big granite rocks. The bundles measured no more than 17 centimetres in length. I hadn’t finished installing them when the tide began to rise. I undid everything and climbed to the top of the rocks and started again. I photographed and went to get my friends who were painting a little further away. When we got back, the small bundles were floating everywhere above the granite blocks. I had forgotten that during « la saison les grandes marées » (a phenomenon on the St. Lawrence known in Eastern Quebec as « high-tide season ») the water can sometimes rise to more than three metres.

I: Your exhibition history is expansive, and some of your projects have taken place over many years. Tell us about engaging with your audience when a piece is ongoing, such as your “projet Roches nomades”.

LL : Le projet Roches nomades, presented in collaboration with artist Wanda Campbell, remains an unforgettable memory. It spanned five years. The rocks were presented in eight locations in Quebec and Sudbury. This project consisted of setting up a very long table of 24 place settings with dishes entirely made out of rocks. At the openings we dressed as waitresses from the 1950s : black clothes, white apron and gloves, and a white cap on which was written « Roches Nomades. » We presented people with a selection of rocks wrapped in coloured paper as if they were chocolates. People would choose some rocks and would talk about themselves in relation to those. Some even had them in the bottom of their pockets. The exchanges were spontaneous. People had quickly understood the codes of the installation and it made them laugh. In 2002, we had the chance to participate in the Montréal en Lumière festival. As we had at the openings, we offered rocks to passersby on Place Dejardins in downtown Montreal. Artisans also offered bites of their products. We had to constantly remind people to take care of their teeth and that no we were not sponsored by dentists. People took forever to choose and sometimes asked for another one for a sister or a friend. Some even came back to exchange it. What an experience!

I: From your experience as an artist and your involvement with the community through membership of organizations such as RAAV, what would you say is the biggest change to the visual art world over the last 20 years?

LL : There have been two major changes over the past 20 years in the visual arts world. The first change, in 2014, was RAAV and CARFAC’s Supreme Court of Canada victory against the National Gallery of Canada. The second, hot off the presses in June 2022, is the reform of the Quebec law on the status of the artist — a law that will force broadcasters to negotiate with associations. I hope we can add a third : to obtain the resale right during the reform of the federal copyright law.

I: Past Imprimo Artist in Residence Randa Hijazi asks: We all know that visual art is an elitist art and that it is a small group of people who acquire it. In your opinion, what does visual art need in order to be accessible to everyone?

LL: It’s a long-term job, but only education will make the difference. If we look at Europe, everybody is used to going to museums and visiting galleries, whereas here until not so long ago only the wealthy frequented cultural establishments.