Virginie Maltais

Virginie Maltais
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

STATEMENT

Virginie Maltais creates collages by using mixed media. She operates both in abstraction and in symbolism. Her works are embraced depth and invite viewers to discover her visual language full of polarity. Her universe is full of contrasting and nuanced colours, geometric and flowing lines, as well as overlade and minimalist areas. Order and chaos are inextricably linked. Through her sensitive and colourful gestures, the artist explores various media (acrylic paint, ink, pastel, and coloured pencils), as well as their combinations, offering a dynamic universe with multiple transparencies, resulting in a language that is both intimate and unique. Using the symbolism of her cutouts (hands, mouths, and eyes), she invites the viewer to interpret these elements related to non-verbal communication and sensory experiences, with the intention of prompting a reflection on the power of human ties uniting people with their peers, as well as their absence. For the artist, collage is experienced as a dreamlike and meditative process, almost psychoanalytic. She often reflects on the complex ideas and emotions that live within her, translating them into symbols, shapes, and colours. She creates to express the intangible parts of her inner self, as well as the universal emotional burdens intrinsic to the human experience. In this way, she provides access to her inner world, where one can both lose and find oneself.

BIO

Virginie Maltais is an artist born and raised in Quebec City. She has been living and working in Montreal since 2008. A graduate of the Université de Montréal, she regularly exhibits her abstract collage works made with mixed media. Her work has been featured in solo and group shows across Quebec and internationally, including in Europe and the United States. Inspired by various international collage communities, where her colourful style and high-energy signature collage artworks are well received, she established Québec Collage in 2018 with a mission to foster collage techniques and provide a space where artists can connect and exchange ideas. This collage community is an experimentation and research space for her where she can create collective exhibitions and cultural mediation projects. She has a deep interest in collage and an appreciation for its versatility. She has written several articles in Kolaj magazine about it and even co-authored a bilingual publication with the Kolaj institute. A trained cultural mediator from Cégep Saint-Laurent, Virginie has been working in the cultural field for several years. She has also volunteered for various projects aligned with her values, including mental health and people’s well-being. She firmly believes in the power of culture as a lever for social change. Through the projects within which she contributes, and by the diffusion of her own art practices, she inspires to encourage artistic practices, either as professional that as amateur, to contribute to people’s well-being and society’s wellness.

ARTIST CONTACT

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virginiemaltais.com

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