In describing her work, Isabelle says:
"An unapologetic, hopeless romantic, I cannot filter what pulses through my heart from bleeding onto my paper. Fuzzy, furry and cloudy shares company with my previous public offerings though the honesty of my emotional self set free by the medium.
The work is my catharsis from longing, my full blush of lust, my interpretation of the substantial weight of human attachment. I scratch, paint, carve, print, and sew each mood, each experience through and onto my materials…exposing them to myself. Each dot... every fat or thin line... placement of pastel hues against dark sweeping negative spaces, even selecting each color is thrilling for me.
My personal experiences in love and life are a common bond with mankind. Further elaboration would only serve to diminish the connection between Art and Viewer.
I have been printmaking for 25 years and I love the layering and the manual, ancient component of the technique. I have missed the immediate gratification of drawing and painting so in this collection I have revisited those techniques. Large scale crayon drawings mixed with pastels and paint. My process of selection has been whatever feels good at that precise moment in time. The beauty of my process has been the simple lack of it. The uncertainty of following my instincts to see where they might take me, not unlike the ‘process’ of falling in Love…
I also discovered that weather patterns accurately translate my feelings. It has been overcast these days, but there are optimistic pink sunsets on the horizon promising glimpses of sun. As for ’furry things’? Thank God for them and the fuzzy feelings that make me feel safe…happy…content..."
Toronto-based artist printmaker Isabelle Hémard was born in 1966 in France, and has lived in Canada since the early nineties. She completed her MFA at Diplôme National Supérieur d'Arts Plastiques in France and has exhibited in Canada and internationally. Her work can be found in many private, public and corporate collections. Her work is available in Toronto through Loop Gallery, Open Studio and Tracey Capes Fine Arts. Isabelle's exhibition will be on display at Loop Gallery until Sunday, August 8, 2010.
