In Memory of the Heart and Body | Carole Baillargeon

In In Memory of the Heart and Body, Carole Baillargeon brings together three distinct bodies of work, united by the use of natural dyes and a meditative engagement with their application on thread, fabric, and paper.

The series Soil Landscapes directs the gaze downward, beneath our feet. Through embroidery, Baillargeon captures the richness and intricacy of subterranean worlds. Comprising ten works, the series evokes the subtle traces of natural phenomena, attuned to the enduring cycles of Québec’s seasons.

In Gathering Together, a sculptural ensemble made of handmade paper, Baillargeon envisions a family of forms. Like a botanical lineage, these works share a common origin: cast from molds of shoe sections, they emerge through playful repetition and variation, forming assemblages that oscillate between individuality and collective identity.

Pages from the Notebook of Natural Dye and Ink Explorations, begun in 2019, chronicles Baillargeon’s evolving research. Experimenting with new dye plants, nuanced chromatic shifts, and innovative techniques of pigment application, the artist cultivates a dynamic dialogue with natural color. In her most recent Pages, her training in scenography and expertise in patina for theatre sets and costumes resurface, layering textures into vibrant, tactile evocations of nature’s quiet presence.

For more than fifteen years, Baillargeon has lived along the St. Lawrence River in Deschambault, where her artistic practice is sustained by daily gestures—gardening, walking, observing, gathering, dyeing. Rooted in ecofeminist thought, her work invites a reimagining of our relationship to both nature and femininity.

The exhibition title is drawn from Catherine D’Amours’s essay Les paysages intérieurs.

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