“My work is not an act of recycling, but of restitution.”
Meet Artist in Residence Joanne Lapointe
For this month’s Artist in Residence feature, we’re delighted to introduce to you Joanne Lapointe. After decades of serving others in the visual arts, Joanne decided to prioritize her own creativity and the development of her personal style. Her first exhibitions were in 2019. We spoke to Joanne about incorporating discarded and time-worn objects into her art, the inspirational hues of Iceland, and the challenges of gaining visibility as an artist.
Imprimo: Hi Joanne, You’re answering our Artist in Residence interview from your studio in Mauricie, Quebec. What’s the view from your window?
Joanne Lapointe: My house/workshop in Mauricie is on the edge of a peaceful lake in the heart of the boreal forest. I made the choice to settle here because it brings me the tranquility I need to work. What could be more inspiring than being an integral part of this quiet force in constant transformation? From my window, I see the textures and colours change with the seasons. In summer, I hear the thrush in the undergrowth, the wind in the leaves. In winter, I sense the hushed silence of the snow over everything. This omnipresent nature suggests subjects and titles to me, it has the great generosity to sometimes provide me with the artefacts I need for my work.
I: You studied graphic design and worked for several decades in the arts before having your first exhibition as an artist in 2019. What was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome to arrive at that moment of attending your own opening?
JL: After all the years of satisfying the visual needs of my clients, giving myself time to develop my own research, find my personal style and submit my creations to the public eye has been quite a challenge. But my greatest difficulty was to understand the complexities of promotion and distribution and how to access those networks, the time needed to prepare pitches or applications, to do the introspection required to offer an accurate description of my artistic research… In short, a steep learning curve, apart from the creation itself. Being chosen for two exhibitions that year was a greatly appreciated sign of encouragement.
I: Tell us a bit about the trip to Iceland that inspired you.
JL: The palette of Iceland, born of fire and water, was a revelation. The pure lines, the graphic elements of the landscape revealed through powerful contrasts, the strength of black, omnipresent on the island, spoke to me, inspired me. The textures, too, visible everywhere, led me to work with raw materials such as rust, burnt wood and rock dust. Needless to say I would have loved to have picked up some treasures in the unusual places that I explored.
I: Through art, you give utilitarian, man-made objects a second chance. What drew you to the idea of turning objects created to do a “job” into art, which is created to be contemplated, inspire thought and enjoyed?
JL: My work is not an act of recycling, but of restitution. Attracted by the traces of time impregnated on these abandoned objects, I realized ugliness could be beautiful — we just need to change the way we look at things. I love the challenges that their different materials bring to me. A rusty piece cannot be mounted in the same way as a piece of glass, wood cannot be worked with like porcelain. It’s always different and it leads me down unexpected paths. I love the shadow cast by fragments in relief, because they allow you to step out of the frame, giving the work a unique and vibrant presence in its environment. By diverting the object from its original function, I like to think that I bring it to life in a different way and that it can be sublimated in a current work of art.
I: Tell us a little bit about your process, from the discovery of discarded objects to bringing them together in a piece.
JP: No matter where I am, I am always on the lookout, looking for a shape, colour or texture that catches my eye. I don’t always know what will inspire me, or when it will happen. It is when rummaging through boxes at my workshop that this alchemy takes place! This is when I decide on the story to tell and its staging, when I paint, fix, fold, glue and whitewash. I challenge the solidity of steel and the fragility of plants, the transparency of glass and the flexibility of wood. I love taking the object into a completely different register, a bed spring transforms into an aircraft nacelle, a sanding pad into a water lily, all you need is a little imagination!
I: You’ve said of your work that “the titles create themselves.” How important is the title to a work?
JP: My titles are almost always composed of one or two words, like an evocation, stating the obvious, or a wink. Most of the time, it is the found piece that inspires the title from the outset. My work develops from the strength or the story the found piece releases. These stories take us back to nature, to our memories of childhood or travel… Crépuscule, Iceberg, Flots bleus, Moby Dick, Katmandou, Islande, etc. For me, the title isn’t necessary to understanding the work but nevertheless holds an evocative force that can transform the way we look at it and add a new dimension.
I: Past Artist in Residence Lise Létourneau asks: “What aspect of your job as an artist do you find the most difficult?”
JL: It is to make yourself known in this whirlpool of online activity! Thank you, IMPRIMO, for this great quality visibility!
I: OK, quick-fire round: What artist(s), living or dead, would you most like to meet for coffee?
JL: Gustav Klimt, Alberto Burri, Andy Goldsworthy, Dugald MacInnes and Marc Séguin.
I: Is there an unlikely skill you’ve acquired in service of your art?
JL: Accept the accident. Use it to bounce back!
I: Can you remember the first piece you exhibited publicly?
JL: It was a huge globe entirely painted by hand, inspired by the ancient iconography of world maps, exhibited in Germany (2013).
I: What’s the last gallery you visited?
JL: Yvonne L. Bombardier Cultural Centre.
*This interview has been translated from the original French.
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