unfurling

AUdrey paquette

about

"Unfurling" is a cohesive series of four acrylic paintings, created by Montreal artist Audrey Paquette, which depicts the unstoppable passage of time that affects our mortal state. This series is an ode to the cosmic notion that life is more than just the sum of its parts. The simultaneous themes of death, birth and love suggests that we are a never ending cycle of human energy, dying and returning to the ground only to be resourced. This series speaks of the undeniable sensation that the physical body is propelled by an unquantifiable spark and that all stages of existence meld together in perfect cyclical balance. We are forced to cope with loss, survive grief, and assume deaths finality. But despite the irreversibility and inevitability of death, the human spirit lives on in memory, family, legacy and love. We continue through life with the weight of grief, but the knowledge that the horizon does not mark the end of the ocean.

The event

The wolves helped to ensure the smooth execution Paquette’s vernissage: running the merch table, handing out artist statements, serving at the bar, and promoting her work and event online.

WolfLab interview Kenny Scappaticci discuss Paquettes’ latest series

At my first WolfLab event, I immediately felt Audrey’s welcoming, kind energy and witnessed her unique artistry and creative passion. When Audrey spoke about her up coming vernissage titled Unfurling, I pictured a flower blossoming. 

Upon viewing the Unfurling series, I felt so much warmth.  Audrey invites viewers to reflect on mortality in a beautiful and intimate way, connecting this heavy subject to that of love and the concept of rebirth. Unfurling begins in a way one could interpret as the end, and I resonated with this theme. Audrey translates an array of human emotion through this series, and I can feel how much of herself she put into this work. Unfurling guides the eye through synchronous acts of blossoming, leaving the viewer with the opportunity for profound reflections. 

When we first discussed Unfurling, you spoke about the duality of blooming and decaying. What brought you to these subjects and compelled you to incorporate that connection in your paintings?
I consider myself a joyous person, someone optimistic always capable of finding a silver lining. In my teen years, I faced serious health complications that forced me and those I love to consider the fact that we have absolutely no control over our ephemeral state. But I walked away with more than just a capable body. I believe I experienced post traumatic joy. My entire life, I had thought of death as this vacuum of solitude and it terrified me. But this fear was tied to my physical being. Having needed to surrendered my my flesh and blood to hospitals for as long as I was forced to, I began to realize that the notion of life being defined by skin and bone was perhaps naïve. We are all dying, we are all being born in constant undulant rhythm, blossoming and decaying like a field in late March.

How did you decide on the title Unfurling? 
Im a lover of plants and nature and quite enjoy watching my own beloved house plants uncoil their foliage. I think that as humans, we do mature individually, but we pass on guidance, truth, and spirit, and in that way we return to the stem, ready to unfurl ourselves again as a whole people, evolved and full of the cherished nourishment left behind by those before us. What inspired this series? What inspired you artistically when you approached this project? 
I began the series with an elderly couple because I suppose I understand what it feels like to stand before that uncertain void. As I painted the layered and delicate wrinkles of their skin, I grew attached to this sweet, doting couple. I promised my characters I would give them the fluid, rewarding and ever growing fate that, in my heart, awaits us all. 

What does this series mean to you? 
Having carried these philosophies with me for several years, it is a balm on my heart to materialize the concepts that have helped me get through. These impressions of mine have been echoed to me time and time again in my every day life, when I hear songs my late grandfather sang, when I practice skills carried down by lineage. To put brush to canvas and create a world where the fear I once carried with me has no place, is a tremendous relief and conformation that we truly are forever.

To purchase a painting, or for more information, please contact Paquette.