Nicole Lavoie

Phone:(819) 682=1133
E-mail: lavoienic@bell.net

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From an early age I have been attracted to the visual expression.   Born in the beautiful Laurentians, nature has always been integrated in my work.   I acquired formal training at Concordia in Montréal   and   I exhibited in solo and group shows. I did work for the Conseil de la peinture du Québec and worked in a gallery.   Moved to Ottawa in 1992.  

The past five years has been a period of introspection where I have been trying new materials and new ways of expressing my concerns.   I did life drawing with the Bottom Line group in Ottawa and initiated a similar group in Aylmer. I experimented with different processes, passing from figurative to abstract and non figurative.   I have tried overcharging the composition, working with symbols and signs, all the time searching for identity.   A lot of trial and errors.   Talking to artists, looking at art in magazines, on television and visiting the National Gallery and exhibitions has given me the momentum to use a vocabulary which is new to me but responds to my idea of expressing movement and tension within the limits of the work itself and hopefully to the viewer. Each painting becomes a puzzle in which visual suggestions are made and clues are given but the solution will depend on the person who reads it.