Words Beyond the Canvas: From Montreal to Mexico to the Eastern Townships
Updated: 1 day ago
AN ART SHOW AND A BOOK LAUNCH
Words Beyond the Canvas, the art show and the book are now available to viewed and read!
You can catch the final weekend of the exhibition, with paintings, light sculptures and David Sorensen's writing, on view at Le Vieux Forgeron Gallery, from 11am-5pm (240 A Rue Dufferin, Stanstead), in the Eastern Townships.
This evening, on Saturday, September 5th, the launch of the book, Words Beyond the Canvas, will be taking place at the same address, from 5-7pm.
Both the book of my father’s compiled letters and the paintings in the exhibition—abstract works inspired by excerpts from his writing and the deep, enduring friendships he cherished—offer another way of sharing his memory and the way he moved through the world.
The evening will also be filled with live music by Jen Schaffer & The Shiners, a band in from Toronto, who will be releasing their new single, Golden Shadows. Looking forward to maybe seeing you there tonight!
WORDS BEYOND THE CANVAS PRESENTED AT LE VIEUX FORGERON GALLERY / CENTRE DES ART DES STANSTEAD
The project, Words Beyond the Canvas, with all its interconnected components, has been a journey, and it feels like a gift to have it loop back to the Townships where I grew up.
These past years, as I’ve read my father’s many letters written to artist friends, I’ve felt his presence almost palpable through them. With each revisiting of his stream-of-consciousness writing comes a deep sense of calm, inspiration, and quirky humour.
My hope is to share a glimpse of that experience in this very special space, an old blacksmith forge on the banks of the Tomifobia River, through his words presented in the 2D “paper clouds,” as I call them, alongside floating 3D light sculptures, a new medium introduced to me this past winter by the Oaxacan artist Adrian Gijón.
OAXACA COLLABORATION
Oaxaca is a cultural heartland in Mexico where surrounding villages preserve centuries-old Indigenous folk-art traditions, with each town specializing in a distinct craft. Major traditional arts include alebrijes (woodcarving), textiles and weaving, barro negro (black pottery), ceramics and green-glaze pottery, and embroidery. More recently, sculptural lamp making has begun to attract attention in the region after a Swiss architect moved to the area and began teaching his techniques to local makers.
Adrian Gijón was a student of one of the architect’s students and continues to develop his own approach to making these lamps and light sculptures. I was lucky enough to learn from Adrian, who shared with me some of the techniques and processes involved in creating these objects of light. Through this exchange, I was able to incorporate this way of working into my own project.
Over the past many months I discovered that creating these orb-like clouds is a rigorous process, requiring considerable time, patience, and focus. Each step is its own chapter: pleating and knotting the wire into a structure, finding the suitable paper for each piece, layering tissue or Japanese paper onto each wired section, incorporating texture, choosing excerpts of writing, adding electrical fixtures and bulbs, and, of course, figuring out how to bring it all together aesthetically. While learning just how demanding the process can be, I have also thoroughly enjoyed watching my father’s words and sketches take flight through these three-dimensional, illuminated paper clouds.
RECAP OF THE GALERIE L'ONYX SOLO SHOW
Since my return from Mexico in April, I have devoted all of my studio time to the construction of the light sculptures. I am therefore grateful that the paintings in this series had already received my full attention as I prepared for my show at Galerie L’Onyx in November 2025.
The paintings in this series explore a different palette from my previous bodies of work. They are lighter, more airy, and filled with soft colour. Perhaps this shift reflects the dialogue I am exploring with the energies that float between and within things—energies that are not necessarily concrete or tangible, but seem to be present nonetheless.
The new visual vocabulary in these paintings features orb-like markings reminiscent of “thought bubbles,” capturing the random, floating ideas expressed in my father’s letters.
I first noticed these unique orbs in photographs of my mother and me during an Italian journey we took to celebrate what would have been my parents’ 50th anniversary. One striking image captures my mother, who was battling a deep cough at the time, with a cluster of orbs outlining her face, almost as though she were connected to an oxygen tube. The placement of these possible reflections of light in this photo is unusual, inspiring the thought that perhaps some form of healing was being offered.
Ultimately, these orb-filled photographs had a significant influence on the paintings that followed in the Words Beyond the Canvas series. In the studio, I focused on a soft color palette while exploring the interplay between hard-edged lines and expansive organic forms. This contrast seeks to balance intuition with intellect, as well as the feminine with the masculine.
Additionally, I have collaged my father’s writing onto the backs of various canvases, offering a literal glimpse of the words that exist behind, or beyond, the canvas.
Yesterday, I drove up to Ottawa to pick up the new books that will be available to the public this evening atLe Vieux Forgeron Art Gallery, from 5-7pm.
The newest version is comfortable to hold, making it easier to dive into my father’s words and thoughts, with a binding that allows the pages to turn effortlessly. More information on how to purchase the book will be coming your way very soon.
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