The exhibition title, Near the Lines, evokes three main interpretations that can influence, complement, or neutralize each other.
Near the Lines refers to an aspect of my amorous creative process in 2011. Using micro-stencils, which I compare to Japanese stencil cutouts (katagami), my actions aim to tear off, peel off, and poke into surfaces, as close as possible to pre-cut contour lines in order to reveal micro-surfaces. Thus, viewed up close, the traces that make up the paintings testify to the use of glues and cutting tools, but also to precise, repetitive, and programmatic gestures, incorporating traditional and industrial know-how, thus revisiting certain acquired skills of painting throughout history.
Near the Lines also evokes the border that separates Canada from the United States. The drawings used for the paintings come from data around the border between Quebec and neighboring states (New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine). I worked from images, objects and numerical data in order to question the representation of a bordering place and, more broadly, the issues linked to the growing use of geomatics.
Furthermore, Near the Lines signifies my midpoint between a disciplinary approach—painting—and my extradisciplinary concerns—geomatics. It is clear that my pictorial propositions are informed by the role of geomatics in landscape construction without being subordinate to the principles and methods of cartographic production. Far from seeking a perfect equation between a statement (which would be that of geomatics science) and my formal strategies (working with color and using micro-stencils), my paintings instead focus on gaps. They seek to blur the lines between a discourse stemming from extradisciplinary concerns and the full capacity of forms to generate meanings autonomously.
Jérôme Bouchard
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