Garneau, Esther

There was a self-taught artist who splashed colors and emotions on canvas

Once upon a time, there was a self-taught artist who splashed colors and emotions on canvas. She liked people to read her titles by looking at her paintings to understand what she wanted to express. The work being the introduction, the viewer will interpret it according to his or her story and make his or her own conclusion. Isn't that the beauty of art?  My vision is to make art accessible to both the novice and experienced collector.

My work is usually created in one sitting. I can work for several hours straight and feel like only one hour has passed. I no longer feel pain, hunger or thirst... I am in complete symbiosis with the work. I can transmit my most intimate emotions to it without modesty and it will keep the secret. Lyrical abstraction consists in translating the direct expression of the emotion and in expressing a truth buried in oneself. I give myself the right to change direction according to my emotional need, to explore a collection over a long or short period of time. I chose acrylic as my medium of choice because I love the richness of its color range and its versatility which makes it the perfect medium for my way of creating. I like to work quickly and spontaneously. I alternate and combine brush and spatula as the canvas dictates. I work with paint both carefully and forcefully, alternating between throwing and adding carefully. I regularly incorporate iridescent and metallic colors to brighten the work, and complement it with touches of alcohol inks and metallic foil.

Exchanging and working with other artists helps me to open up to the world around me. Throughout my career, several important figures have helped me assert my style and status as an artist, such as Jackson Pollock and Riopelle. By reading their stories, I found revealing answers to my questions. Alcoholic father, self-taught artist, need for creation that outweighs the means... The artists of the global refusal are composed in equal parts of men and women who contest the same points that I myself defend since my childhood... I see that their concerns are also mine and are still relevant. Yayoi Kusama inspires me in my legitimacy as a woman artist. She helped me to understand the link between my lived emotion and the general orientation of my work.

It is the work of Fernand Leduc that has led me, in my most recent collections, to become interested in the theory of color, particularly its changing meanings according to hues, societies and times. My experience with a thousand and one emotions had previously led me to create works that were often chaotic with a multitude of colors and textures. My mind, now calmer, guides me towards collections where I explore one emotion at a time, to dissect them and free myself from them. By observing nature and the changing seasons, I realized that like nature, I must adapt to the many changes and be resilient. Feeling happiness allows me to create works of art that make you dream! Art is a therapy for those who create and those who observe!