Laurence Belzile

Biography

Born in Gaspésie (QC) in 1994, Canadian artist Laurence Belzile lives and works on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples, in what is now known as Vancouver (BC). She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Concordia University (2016), with a major in painting and drawing, as well as a Master of Fine Arts from Université Laval (2019). Since 2016, Laurence Belzile has presented her work in both group and solo exhibitions across Canada, including at the Vernon Public Art Gallery (BC), the Richmond Art Gallery (BC), Galerie Montcalm (QC), the Centre d’art de Kamouraska (QC), and Galerie Champagne et Paradis (QC), which represents her. Her work has been supported, among others, by the Canada Council for the Arts. Her artworks are part of the public collection of the City of Boucherville and the Méduse Collection of the City of Québec.

Artist Statement

My practice centers on abstract painting and drawing to evoke emotional experiences from a feminist perspective.

Through vertical compositions marked by organic forms, curved lines, and contrasting colors, I construct emotional and sensory imaginary spaces where intensity, melancholy, and poetry coexist. Movements such as ascent, descent, suspension, enclosure, or opening structure my images and act as vectors of sensation.

My work also engages in a dialogue with women artists of the past in order to affirm a feminist continuity grounded in the circulation of sensibilities, the poetry of abstraction, and the sharing of emotional and lived experiences as a form of resistance.