Espace Claire-Léger presents

Suzanne Cloutier
Errances #100

Errances #100, 2023, aquarelle, crayon, pastel sur papier, 23 cm x 17 cm

Rollande Goudreault
Vibrations aquatiques

Vibrations aquatiques, 2025, Photomorphose, 50.5 cm x 50.5 cm

I was struck by the graphic nature of this code, which transcends language.This insider’s language helps create a sense of community and serves as documentary elements of a certain way of life. I drew the signs on watercolour paper—sometimes individually, sometimes in comparison according to their country of origin. I used the colour code of road signage that governs our daily lives to divide these signs into three categories based on the meaning of each pictogram: red for Danger, yellow for Caution, and green for Safety—except for blue, which I used for water or faith. The result is a series of 123 small drawings (23 x 17 x 2 cm). The strength of their number, repetition, and the variation of simple motifs draws the viewer into the heart of concerns around homelessness. The path through the work, a kind of visual wandering, begins with the red watercolour section, followed by yellow, and finally green. These works were presented to the public at Maison de la culture Claude-Léveillée in Montréal in January 2024.

For this exhibition, I selected six red, six yellow, and six green drawings to form three panels. Each panel is composed of three drawings across and two drawings high, occupying a space of 46 cm x 85 cm x 2 cm.

Suzanne Cloutier lives and works in Montréal, her hometown. She holds a degree in Painting and Drawing from Concordia University, and these remain her tools of choice. Her work explores themes drawn from art history and current events, with a particular focus on human violence. Her paintings, drawings, and lithographs have been featured in solo and group exhibitions, primarily within Montréal’s maisons de la culture network and at artist-run centres throughout Quebec. Drawn to the artist’s book format, Suzanne Cloutier trained in fine bookbinding and writing, and in 2018 she made her debut in the field by presenting Vagrancy — Signs for Survival at the Volume 1 MTL fair. Also a head set decorator in film, she has contributed to more than sixty Quebec and international productions, including Source Code, Brooklyn, and Scream VI. Her book Errances, published by Éditions du Passage, is her first published work.

In the past, I would paint nature from a distance, observing the landscape from afar. Today, I place myself at the very heart of it. I have moved from depicting the landscape to inhabiting the forest. I’m drawn to the atmosphere of these green spaces—the shifting light, the sense of well-being they bring. My work seeks to create atmospheres that reveal the sensitive, awaken emotion, and transport the viewer—where beauty becomes a form of refuge.

The pandemic marked a turning point in my practice. I began working with oil paint, which led to an exhibition focused on forests. Around that time, a theme began to take shape in my mind: “The traces we leave behind.” I remembered a series of photographs I had taken—images that resonated perfectly with this idea. Then one day, a beautiful accident occurred: in my garden, condensation on a plastic sheet formed fleeting patterns. I captured them with my camera.

That was the beginning of a duet between nature and myself. Photography, once a silent witness, now took centre stage. It merged with painting in a two-voiced approach: nature offering its share of creation, and me, mine. Together, we leave a trace—a poetic, fragile, enduring mark held in the living memory of the world.

Rollande Goudreault lives and works in Quebec. Her artistic journey began at age 17, when she enrolled in graphic arts studies in Québec City. There, she was introduced to the world of visual arts. She continued her training with a variety of courses and a year-long stay in Switzerland. She earned a bachelor’s degree in visual arts from Université Laval, which included a number of hands-on internships, and later completed a second bachelor’s degree in fine arts at UQAM, after joining the Galerie Jean-Pierre Valentin in Montréal.

Since the late 1980s, Goudreault has explored her deep connection to the land through various mediums, including pastel, oil painting, and photography. Her work is grounded in a direct relationship with nature—ranging from the forests of Quebec to the vast northern landscapes, as seen in her solo exhibition in Iqaluit in 2004.