surface tension -
away-from-keyboard / à se faufiler
or; they’re working, their work[-ing], theyire work-ing ? In [the, your, our,] backyard
This is an accumulation of things: things that were given to me and things that I made myself.
A performative act of making and an ode to working, art-working and artistic-research-practicing.
In a refusal to use plastic paint and non-biodegradable materials, and stemming from a research paper I wrote on the material culture of paint and another on [sub]urbanisation of so-called Laval / île jesus / “jardin de montréal,” I have experimented with making my own pigments and watercolours, out of my own food waste and plants that grow in my parents’ backyard in Laval, or around me wherever I am.
I created a solid library of material alternatives that are zero waste, biodegradable and low-cost. Though meanwhile, balancing time to practice and work proves difficult. As I was working - teaching, facilitating, editing, writing and producing - more than I was “practicing,” the distinction between these various types of work became more and more unclear.
Weaving my own surfaces, canvases, using 100% cotton warp thread, sustainably sourced, or paper thread from previous work, to continue my painting experiments with food waste pigments, such as dried orange peels, avocado pits and cabbage - which I grind into a powder and combine with a mordant using a paint muller.
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/708186f0b328a7e30193c9f43c335a1886d2ef3c27d07def0ace8c32712e4594/Screenshot-2021-08-10-at-4.01.10-PM.png)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1032be26e18129ed8d23a76b8ee3be239f8f30757054485d1228c1c145301d0e/20210329_123854-edited-scaled.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f657dcdef3f4223918fd894c8775593dccf4afcdc7267ada369cd991071a1b85/Plastique_photo_Alexis_Bellavance_002.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/83579118f697fc6f0bcc0848fd63c0e447092e9811d7c277d146a7d34afcab85/Plastique_photo_Alexis_Bellavance_005.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/06340b9e070df7871b266e7d3bb0a63000736670fb74dee8a42d22a437db36fa/Plastique_photo_Alexis_Bellavance_003.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/50233739303160803846387b6933a053239f80efffd7cec1fcc5e3457b774b86/Plastique_photo_Alexis_Bellavance_004.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ffd8a809279d32815b0741b6f07a183d79071a5f85463704f9f9ead003dbfbfc/Plastique_photo_Alexis_Bellavance_010.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/58f1112de52ec91d823d744f5c1ab5f3c613b33152a36ef29ba6f9ac313e444b/Plastique_photo_Alexis_Bellavance_018.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e39e8189c28ee3fa53d4970bbe4afdb8482b26de42ba9033ebaa922d7f6edad5/Plastique_photo_Alexis_Bellavance_009.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cb5c4d1a9ccbba8c2bf285c23218a238bfb512fdfabd7bb8c95649d8679a1e8c/Plastique_photo_Alexis_Bellavance_028.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5105cd42a0778c385e33602555aeefc60d0543a959465c90d3688c3fd045fda5/Plastique_photo_Alexis_Bellavance_038.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2257bebee246613f96435240d988a26350bbe00a646c25d7900d5daf618f7451/20211203_123734.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a755ce25ba0292e7fc44d3e6a23bda8ded69736f095b225167c91013e03c327c/FAR-clalonde-4-credit_Nea-Clownea.jpeg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/74914db78e901e673ec7594c9809a134a35ad1251c272e2d50e1ca25013d3bbd/FAR-clalonde-3-credit_Jasmine-Allan-Cote.jpeg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/91357568fd2e1d9b053890d0d5bba50769d8e8709cbcbfd648dd1be8636d3a9c/FAR-clalonde-1-credit_Jasmine-Allan-Cote.jpeg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0cc8073b630a5cd0d4f96aa399363a7e2177db5748bb65bfedd3b4a056175ae5/FAR-clalonde-2-credit_Jasmine-Allan-Cote.jpeg)
1 Video: documentation of a work in progress (2020/21)
2 Bestrew, Ihooq studio: documentation of a work in progress, Galerie et Studios Jano Lapin. (2020/21)
3 Le Club Plastique, Verticale, Parc Rosaire-Gauthier. (2021)
4 documentation of a work in progress, off loom in Vienna. (2021)
5 From there through here - away-from-keyboard, site-specific installation and performance, Künstlerhaus Vienna. (2022)
6 From there through here - surface tension workshop, Künstlerhaus Vienna. (2022)
7In [the, your, our,] backyard, Art POP 2022: Workshop Series (2022)
8surface tension - à se faufilier, Festival des Arts Ruelles (2022).