BIO

 

Marie-Pier Malouin is a visual artist based in Vancouver on the unceded, traditional and ancestral territories of the Coast Salish people, which includes the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam) and Səlil̓wətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) nations.

 

She obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Concordia University (CA) with a Minor in Anthropology from the Université de Montréal (CA). She then moved to England where she completed an MA in Art and Science at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design (UK), combining her knowledge in linguistics with her art practice.

 

Malouin’s work has been presented in group exhibitions in Canada and Europe and has received support from the Canada Council for the Arts. She has been awarded the Daniel Ford International Prize for Innovation (2015), the Visual & Performing Arts Achievement Award from the Golden Key International Society (2012) and the Bead’n Stitch Prize from Concordia University (2010). Since arriving in British Columbia, she has been involved with the Francophone artistic community through the Centre culturel francophone de Vancouver and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Kleine Compagnie Theater Society and the Collectif des artistes visuels de C.-B. in which she curates exhibitions and organizes cultural events.

 

 

ARTIST STATEMENT

 

My artistic practice has evolved over the past several years by exploring fields as diverse as industrial design, archeology, visual art, and linguistics. Today, my creative work is located at the crossroads of these fields by borrowing from them references, working methods and concepts. Scientific knowledge, more than a simple source of inspiration, is at the heart of my artistic practice, just like lines, movement, or transparency, it occupies an important place in my thinking and in my creative process.

 

My current research angle is on language and its influence on our perception of the world in a practice combining sculpture, drawing and installation. Starting from the idea that "each language explains the world, or an experience of the world, in its own way", I transform the material to create sensory environments inviting the viewer to enter into discussion with the work and to be part of its composition.

 

For the past few years, I have been focusing on certain concepts. First, linguistic changes or the differentiation of languages ​​according to space and time. Then, semantics, or the study of the meaning of words and their combinations. These concepts materialize in my sculptural work through the use of repetition, transparency and movement.

 

My reflection is divided into three segments. First, the relationship between words and images. Considering the idea that images are a form of language, I examine the interactions between visual and verbal language. By setting aside the idea of ​​equivalence between words and images, I examine the way of thinking associated with each form, the areas in common between the two forms and the space they occupy in our social structure.

 

The second, the relationship between words and thought, to assess the influence of words on our perception of the world. By considering words as elements at the source of the categories used in the acquisition of knowledge. I try to illustrate the links as well as the distance that separates words from reality, their lineage as well as the changes occurring over time.

 

The third, the confrontation between the classification systems implied by languages ​​to understand our world, and the permeability and movement of semantic boundaries. I examine the transformations of meaning across time, space, and cultures, both between languages ​​and within them.

 

Very interested in line and organizational systems, I work with a wide variety of materials, including among others, fibrous materials such as wood, paper and textiles. The linear, concentric structure of the wood provides me with a solid foundation and malleability while creating a connection to time and movement. Textiles give me flexibility and movement, while allowing me to manipulate the very structure of the material and use it as a metaphor.

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