ESTHER GARNEAU
ABSTRACT PAINTER
PORTFOLIO + CV
Once upon a time, there was a self-taught artist who splashed color and emotion on canvas.
She loved the people reading the title of paintings while observing them so they can understand what she wanted to express. The one looking at the art will interpret it following their feeling and will make their own conclusion. Isn’t that the beauty of art?
My art pieces are usually created in one session. I can work for several hours and feel like only one hour passed. I don’t feel pain, hunger or thirst… I am in complete symbiosis with the piece. I can give it all my rawest and more intimate emotions and it will keep the secret. Lyrical abstraction consist of translating the direct expression of the emotion and express a truth buried within one self. I give myself the right to change direction to fit my emotional need, to explore a collection for as long as I need to. I chose acrylic as my predilection medium because I like the richness of its colour range and its polyvalence, which makes it a perfect medium for me.
My vision
Making art accessible by welcoming both novice and experienced collectors.
ABSTRACT WORK
TOUT SERA FACILE
Acrylique sur canvas / 32 x 40 x 1.5 pouces
I like to create swiftly. I work the paint with care but also with spontaneous movements, combining the brush and the knife. I often include iridescent and metallic colors to illuminate the piece, and I complete it with touches of alcohol ink and gold sheets.
Exchanging and working with other artists helps me to open up to the world around me. Along the way, several important figures have helped me assert my style and status as an artist, such as Jackson Pollock and Riopelle. I found revealing answers to my questions by reading their stories: alcohol problems, self-taught artists, the need for creation that outweighs the means.
The Refus Global artists, made up equally of men and women, who contest the same points that I myself have defended since childhood. I realize that their concerns are also mine, and are still relevant today. As for Yayoi Kusama, she inspires me in my legitimacy as a woman artist. She helped me to understand the link between my emotions and the general direction of my work.
It was Fernand Leduc’s work that led me, in my most recent collections, to take an interest in the theory of color, more specifically its changing meanings according to hues, societies and eras. Until then, my experience of a thousand and one emotions had led me to create often chaotic works composed of a multitude of colors and textures. My mind, now calmer, guides me towards collections in which I explore one emotion at a time to dissect them and free myself from them. By observing Mother Nature and the changing seasons, I’ve come to understand that, like her, I need to adapt to multiple changes and show resilience. Feeling happy allows me to create works of art that will make you dream! Art is therapy for those who create and for those who observe!