There is something mythical about entering an artist’s studio. It is there, after all, that genius comes to life, that the experience of the world is transformed into ideas, then into objects. One perhaps hopes, secretly, to glimpse – and catch – a spark, an inspiration, a thought which would give birth to the soul of the creator in oneself. At the very least, we aspire to unearth the secrets, the hauntings, the flame which forge its occupant.
With The workshop, the painter Marc Séguin invites the public to go behind the scenes, to immerse themselves, for the space of a few pages, in the joyful chaos that stirs his creativity and reflects his thought, to visit the backstage of his visual universe and literary, the places that saw the birth of some of his greatest works and, by the same token, his identity as an artist.
For nearly two years, Caroline Perron and Maude Chauvin followed Marc Séguin from one studio to another, from New York to Montreal, via L’Isle-aux-Grues, to photograph the spaces he occupied. and who have inhabited it in return.
Each image, taken individually – here an abandoned fan, there a rag passed over a dotted surface – has nothing romantic about it. However, put together, accompanied by the painter’s editorial-flavored logbook, they tell a story. Over the pages, the foundries, the disused factories and the somewhat savage disorder that reigns there sublimate to give way to art.
Under the gaze of the photographers, the rays of the sun which penetrate through the dusty windows, the paint stains which strew the ground, the sketches still haloed in mystery and the melancholy of an unfinished work come to life and reflect the urgency, the need vital which animates the hand of the artist. At the heart of the studio, as the painter writes, “doing there is more important than living there”.
Art is born out of chaos
“The studio is certainly the place that most resembles my brain,” sums up the artist, reached on the phone by The duty. There is a part which is not aesthetic, which is disorganized and which must be put into words or images to be intelligible. My life never has so much meaning as at this second when I decide to search the chaos to get out of the intentions, the affirmations. “
For his ideas to crystallize, to materialize in unique objects, the physical place is essential. “In my studio, I have the impression of existing. When I step through the door frame, it’s like giving birth to the possible. It is the place that allows my body to put itself at the disposal of my ideas, which gives them the right to exist. “
The workshop is certainly the place that most resembles my brain. There is a part which is not aesthetic, which is disorganized and which must be put into words or images to be intelligible.
By choosing to show behind the scenes, the banalities behind the creation, the artist manages to illustrate the share of doubts that exist in the mind of any artist and to transform the mess into an eminently poetic whole, open to interpretation. , which can be flipped through in a perfectly random order and pace.
“In a work of art, as in a poem, we don’t always see the same thing. Our interpretation will always be colored by the moment we contemplate them. With The workshop, I wanted to recreate this feeling, make people want to revisit it often and find something new each time. “
The artist in everyone
The painter never shows false modesty when he approaches his profession; a refreshing posture that shines throughout the work. It allows you to experience, from the inside, the pride and the feeling of adequacy that the idea that follows its path provokes, the intuition that is confirmed, the work that is finally brought into the world. All of this without ever forgetting the incredible luck that accompanies those who live on their pen and brush.
“Yes, I do art, but I also ‘just’ do art. Despite all the vanity and ego that surrounds this profession, it is not I who invented the creative gesture. I can only be humble in front of people a thousand times more talented than me who already exist, who will come after me or who are still biding their time. “
In The workshop, the artist also invites readers to follow their creative impetus, to add their pencil stroke to the pages left blank, or even to superimpose their vision on the author’s works. “The workshop is a place where you can take risks. Why not play with this code, why not write and draw in a book to make it a unique object? It’s a way to celebrate art with a capital A, but also the fact that everyone is an artist, and that crooked things can sometimes give birth to little miracles. “