Meet Joani Tremblay
Joani Tremblay is an artist and curator living in Montreal. She has an MFA from Concordia University with an art practice based in painting, drawing and installation. Her version of landscape is a colorful, tropical joie de vivre which tangles between representation and abstraction with an emphasis on mark making, color and a sense of playfulness. Landscapes and their utopias are invariably correlated to the question of culture, packed with cultural framing, which is questioned from different stand points.
Tremblay’s work has been shown in Romania (Bucharest Art Week), New York City (NADA NY), Mexico City (Material Art Fair), Tokyo (3331 Arts Chiyoda), Boston (The Museum School of Boston) and throughout Canada in Toronto (Open Studio Gallery), Montreal (Parisian Laundry), Orillia (Orillia Museum of Art & History) and Edmonton (Latitude 53). Tremblay has also done artist residencies in Berlin and Tokyo. Her work is part of the Loto-Québec Collection as well as the Montreal City Art Collection and numerous national and international private collections. She is the recipient of the Vladimir J. Elgart Graduate Scholarship and the Quebec Research Grant from The Fonds de recherche du Québec - Société et culture.
As with our previous artist interviews, we've asked Joani to share with us her perspective on art and the process of making:
What are your favorite materials to work with and why?
Paper has been my main material for years. I come from a drawing background, which has slowly begun to develop more and more into painting. Paper has such a materiality. Where the negative space is left in the image (the white of the paper), to me it is full instead of what seems to be a dead space on the canvas. I have started working on linen as well, finding the negative space of the linen has become more and more appealing.
What do you think the biggest barriers are that artists face in their practice?
Not enough doubt and too much doubt.
What are you thinking about doing next?
After a very busy spring, I am finally going back to the studio to prepare for two upcoming solo exhibitions. I am looking forward to having time to create a new body of work.
Follow the develop of Joani's new work by visiting her website at http://cargocollective.com/joanitremblay and be sure to follow her work on Instagram and Facebook @joanitremblay!
Grab an EXCLUSIVE print of one of her beautiful tropic inspired paintings (only available through our Kickstarter!), or pledge for a private gallery tour and talk hosted by Joani through our exhibition Kickstarter at tinyurl.com/paradicepalaseshow1!