9″x5″; inkjet prints, handmade paper, acrylic, and colored pencil on wood panel; 2026. Courtesy of the artist.
COLLAGE ON VIEW
Rebecca Clouâtre: Remnants
at Good Atlas Gallery in North Bay, Ontario, Canada
25 May-11 July 2026
“Remnants” is a series of mixed-media collages created from magnified photographs of natural fragments collected on the grounds of Rebecca Clouâtre’s in-laws’ cottage on Lake Nosbonsing. Using her daughter’s handheld Ashfly digital microscope camera, a popular children’s STEM toy with a magnification range between 200x and 1000x, she photographed pieces of nature gathered during daily walks throughout the winter and spring: moss, birch bark, seed pods, tree branches, lichen, and other flora scattered across the forest floor. The resulting microscopic images reveal unfamiliar textures, colors, and forms hidden within ordinary organic matter, transforming overlooked debris into immersive and abstract environments.
The work began shortly after Clouâtre returned to her hometown after living in Ottawa for over a decade. Coming back to Northern Ontario has felt both familiar and unfamiliar; the landscape carries the memory of childhood while also appearing altered through the perspective of adulthood and motherhood. Temporarily living at the cottage allowed for a slower rhythm of life shaped by solitude, repetition, and sustained attention. During this period, the artist was deeply influenced by Jenny Odell’s book How to Do Nothing, particularly her writing on bioregionalism and the importance of becoming intimate with one’s immediate environment as a form of care and
resistance within the online attention economy. Rather than looking outward, “Remnants” emerged from a desire to reinvest attention locally and to begin again by closely observing her surroundings.
The title “Remnants” refers both to the pieces of nature gathered after falling to the ground and to collage itself, a medium defined by fragments and recombination. Embedded within the works are traces of movement between the artist and her daughter that highlight the importance of play, discovery, and curiosity in art and in life. Through these gestures, this collection reflects on intergenerational connection and the possibility of forming a renewed relationship to home.
(text adapted from material provided by the artist)
INFORMATION
Good Atlas Gallery
348 Fraser Street
North Bay, Ontario P1B 3W7 Canada
(416) 561-6576
Hours:
Monday-Friday, 11AM-6PM
Saturday, 10AM-5PM