As we empty out our pockets at the end of the day, we unearth a small cascade of tickets, transfers, wrappers and reciepts. These remnants of our daily trajectories, which usually end up in the garbage can, are the raw materials that I use to build my cityscapes.
Since 2005, I have been working on a series of collages depicting the alleyways of Montreal. I am interested in the intimate, authentic feeling of this side of the city: the anti-façade. That lyrical, barely ordered chaos of porches beginning to fall apart and rusted spiral staircases is what draws me to these spaces. Like a survey documenting my neighbourhood, this work brings to light the absurd and subtle ways that people let down their guard and allow their individuality to show through. The medium I use is appropriately unglamorous. Working on plywood, I build up a collaged surface of everyday materials including metro transfers, shopping bags, electrical tape and price tags. The subtle juxtapositions between form and material hint at a coded message, incomprehensible despite the overwhelming familiarity of its contents.
