ARTISTE VISUELLE CONTEMPORAINE
CONTEMPORARY VISUAL ARTIST
Montreal-based multidisciplinary artist Hélène Montpetit uses various techniques to create compelling expressive images. She depicts ideas, and emotions and explores issues such as the impact of climate change and war on ordinary people.
Although she was accepted into Fine Arts at CEGEP du Vieux Montréal in the early 70s, she soon found the conceptual direction of the faculty went against her more classical orientation. She quit, opting instead to share studio space with other self-taught artists and craftspeople. During this time, she studied drawing, painting, textile arts and other techniques on her own and at independent institutions such as the Westmount Visual Arts Centre, producing paintings, batiks and silkscreen works.
She has participated in several group exhibitions in Montreal as well as online juried exhibitions, garnering one judge’s choice award and two honourable mentions.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I love people and that’s why I paint them. I’m a twin. I grew up in a household of eight, surrounded by a large extended family. I find exploring the human face and form endlessly fascinating. When, through my work, people recognize themselves or others, when they remember a moment or an experience, I am confirmed in my role as an artist, which I believe is to spark connections.
How I approach a painting depends on what I’m curious about at any time. A common process is starting from photographs, sketching in graphite and then layering colour from light to dark.
Portraits are a technical exercise for me. When I do them, I strive for a good likeness, which entails getting the proportions and angles right. What I really want, though, is to capture the person’s essence. Sometimes this happens quickly, other times I need several attempts. I have done portraits in oil and in acrylics, but currently my favourite medium is dry pastels. Opening my box of pastels excites me as much as opening a new box of wax crayons did when I was a little girl.
Mood dictates the colours I choose. In The Impact of War, I use a lot of greys and blacks. The sky is dark and the figure painted in almost ghostly tones. I set him against a circle painted in an aggressive red-orange to emphasize the violence inferred by the desolate surroundings. Winter, Bearer of Life is rendered in a completely different palette. I applied shades of white and hints of pale blue to create an icy background. The figure has rosy skin. Her black hair and the red and green of her adornments heighten the contrast of the blueish whites that convey the cold, quiet of the season.
EXHIBITIONS
November 2024 to January 2025 - Viva Vida Gallery and Art Center annual small works and one-of-a-kind Exhibition, 278 Lakeshore Road, Pointe-Claire, Quebec H9S 4K9
October 2024 - Artists in Montreal Fall Group Show, Georges Laoun Opticien, 4012 St-Denis St., Montreal, Quebec.
September 2024 - Fusion Arts' 10th Annual Figures & Faces Art Exhibition. Online.
July 2024 - Artists in Montreal Summer Group Show, BOA Gallery, 263 de la Commune East, Montreal, Quebec.
May 2024 - Scotiabank Contact Festival - Third annual Forms, Faces & Spaces, figuratively speaking! Group juried exhibition, Upper Sisnett Lobby, Halton Hills Cultural Centre, Georgetown, Ontario L7G 2A3
February 2024 - Artists in Montreal online Winter Exhibition.​
February 4- April 7, 2024 - Looking Back, Looking Forward, Teaser Showcase for 3rd annual Forms, Face & Spaces, figuratively speaking! exhibition, Artway Gallery, Shoppers World, Brampton, Ontario.​
January 2024 - Mural Mosaic - Montreal Children's Hospital mural project.
December 2023-January 2024 - Viva Vida Art Gallery and Art Centre - Celebration, 15th annual small works and one-of-a-kind Exhibition.
October 2023 - Youth Employment Services - Online silent auction- (donation of 3 artworks)
September 2023 - Women In Art Online Exhibition
July 2023 - Artists in Montreal Summer Art Show, Valmi Gallery, 1595 Van Horne, Montreal, Quebec
June 2023 - Artist Network Artists to Watch Competition
May 2023 - See|Me True North Exhibition, New York
February 2023 - Artists in Montreal Virtual Valentine’s Art Show
​August 2022 - Artists in Montreal Virtual Summer Exhibition In My Childhood
​February 2022 - Artists in Montreal Virtual Valentine’s Art Show - Judge’s Choice Award
AWARDS
2024
Honourable mention for Fudgesicle/Apocalypse - Scotiabank Contact Festival - Third annual Forms, Faces & Spaces, figuratively speaking!
2023
Honourable Mention for Fall The Dancer - See|Me True North online Exhibition, New York.
2022
Judge’s Choice Award for Momma Told Me There'd Be Days Like This - Artists in Montreal Virtual Valentine’s Art Show, February ​
AFFILIATIONS
Member, Artists in Montreal
Associate Member, Regroupement des artistes en arts visuels du Québec
Associate Member, Society of Canadian Artists
Associate Member Professional Artists Association
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MEDIA
​Society of Canadian Artists - Spring 2024 Newsletter
Artists in Montreal’s Featured Artist, August 2022.
