Élisabeth Picard^CA/QC

Montréal artist Elisabeth Picard holds a master’s degree in Fine Arts from Concordia University. Her work has been supported by various entities including the Conseil des arts et lettres du Québec and the Société de développement des entreprises culturelles, and her sculptures have been showcased in Canada, Cuba, France, Lithuania and in a number of international publications. She participated at the Biennale internationale du lin de Portneuf, at the Biennale nationale de sculpture contemporaine de Trois-Rivières, at the Red Bull Music Academy in Montréal’s Phi Centre, at the Subtle Technologies Festival in Toronto, at the Banquet du Grand palais in Paris as well as the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’ Joueuses/joueurs. Picard held residencies at Est-Nord-Est (Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Québec) at Artmandat (Barjols, France) and at the Maison des métiers d’arts de Québec. She has produced five permanent public installations as part of Québec’s policy on integrating art and architecture, and has been experimenting with LED lighting and electronic art since 2014.

Élisabeth Picard ^CA/QC — Torsion 01 et Torsion 02

Torsion 01 was inspired by Newton’s third law; motors are placed at each end of a linear element, twisting on itself, creating the appearance of a floating being. Torsion 02 imitates the helical motion of a storm, complete with electric flashes resembling lightning; the coiling of the element, combined with the violent light flashes, reveals the amount of force exerted on the textile material whose fibers stretch, knot and relax in a continuous motion. Colored strings ranging from dark to fluorescent react to the light, seemingly appearing out of the darkness; vivid yet low-spectrum lights add an intriguing, almost troubling atmosphere. Technical collaboration: Ghislain Brodeur and Matthieu Gagnon Lamarre.