Biography

Geneviève Baril grew up on rang 7 in Black Lake, on the top of a hill, between the forest and a field where wildflowers bloomed as they pleased. Perhaps that is where her love of the in between comes from; on one side, the woods—on the other, the horizon.

She currently lives and works in Champlain, a small riverside village by the St. Lawrence. She has received many awards from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and the Canada Council for the Arts, and has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Québec as well as abroad.

Approach

Installation title: Anthologie de la marche [Walking: An anthology]

Anthologie de la marche [Walking: An anthology] is a reflection on what we decide to include in the length of time that is given to us.

My exploratory practice is a place of discovery, and my research aims to capture and highlight what is essential. I create installations, sculptural reliefs, spaces that are to be discovered or experienced, environments where purification, sensitivity and poetics take centre stage.

I am interested in the concepts of time, slowness, contemplative experiences, simplification, and humility. I approach these ideas through the repetitive gestures of my creative process, through walking and gathering in nature. The banks of the St. Lawrence River, fields of wildflowers and the forest are the first places that welcome my actions. They are where I collect the source material for my work, whether for an installation, a sculpture, or a video. For each project, my hand is directed by process and repetition while I gather the chosen materials, which, once accumulated, I introduce into my studio. I harvest, deconstruct and reconstruct to create a peaceful world, imbued with calm and silence. Because nothing makes sense outside this world.