“My work is completely different,” enthuses Marie-Chloé Duval, with whom we began our discussion about her as a contemporary artist and what she creates, which has evolved from evocative paintings on canvases to more conceptual creations, with some variations, based on the demands of her artistic intuition, as key turning points in her career that accompany certain successes. Spanning a decade of creative phases, but the artist now stands by her words and says that there is much to say about her. Drawing from a unique story behind her, she helps to put everything in the right context and makes people identify with her more personally. The messages she captures are characterized by in-depth responses to our curiosity about the many works she has in many scales and sizes, which you can find on her website. Art collectors and art buyers are encouraged and invited to see all that she extracts from her creative mind and has incorporated into modern life. With a contemporary approach, Marie-Chloé opens her world to what she chooses, to its direct soundtrack in the social element of our society, and until then, viewed from her familiar surroundings, was part of an ensemble very different from that of today, but which shared a long series of similarities that connect and intersect in certain forms and shapes, that becomes more evident in terms of the way we understand and manage our society than in our analytical present. It is a great pleasure to present this Q&A session together with the artist featured here, Marie-Chloé Duval.
So, Marie-Chloé, tell us a little about when this passion became your world?
Marie-Chloé: Yeah! I’m not one of those artists who would say, oh, I’ve always been creating! Or, I always knew I wanted to be an artist! I mean, I didn’t. But I know that I’ve always been creative in some way. My imagination was very strong. I come from a small village. I would go outside and play in the fields and imagine these creative conduits all the time. So, I would make friendship bracelets and jewelry and all these kinds of creative outlets, but I just didn’t even know that it was a common thing to be an artist, and I hadn’t been to a museum. But when I moved to Montreal, I was 17, 18, for university, I started seeing artists, and at that time I was actually in my undergraduate degree in criminology and then my graduate degree. But then, while I was in school, I thought I would do my doctorate in criminology. And I thought, ‘Wow, I’m never going to finish this with forensics.’ It’s kind of crazy to be in school from kindergarten to retirement, with something that I’m not completely excited about. So I thought, okay, this is really weird. I mean, who am I without this, this loose belt or this hat that defines who I am in a school structure, in an academic structure for so long.
But I always wanted to get in touch with my creative side, and I always thought that I didn’t have time, and I was like, I’m 21 and I don’t have time for a hobby? But at the time, I was in school full-time. I was working 15, 20 hours a week on top of that. So, I literally had very little life left for a hobby. So I took a break from school after The Bachelor, and I started painting, and I loved it. I loved it so much, and it just happened by chance. One day, I got some paint and some wood in my basement, and then a friend and I started painting, and I loved it even more. It’s so silly that I couldn’t stop thinking about painting. That was all I wanted to do. While I was still in graduate school in criminology, I was writing papers, doing research, and painting, and all of that was in between. After that, I decided that I was going to take another break before I started my PhD. But then, the moment of realization came, and I had the conversation with my PhD supervisor and I said, listen, I’m going to put this off for a year.
Tell us a little about the process of transitioning into the creative work you have now as an artist?
Marie-Chloé: That conversation with my PhD supervisor and that break from school was the turning point and I thought, okay, it’s 2016, how can I continue to do this so far in my criminology studies? But because the feeling for the arts was so strong, I didn’t hesitate and realized what I really wanted to do and I’ve been doing art full-time ever since. At first, I didn’t think I would take a year off and then just go do my PhD. A lot of people say, “Why don’t you do both?” But I’ve never been one of those people who does both. I’m more of a person who does one thing full-time, dedicates themselves to it, sees where it leads, and then, if it doesn’t work out, they do the other thing. Because then it’s only half the battle and it’s not very fulfilling. So I knew I just wanted to try it, and after a year, I was so happy and I thought, okay, I’m not giving myself a deadline to stop. As long as I feel complete and happy, and as long as it’s evolving and growing. Not that I have to have it by the end of the year, but it was more like, if I feel like I’m evolving on this path, then I just keep doing it because it makes me happy. So here I am, ten years later, almost, and I’m still, so in love with it. Yeah, and it’s like, sometimes I panic because it’s not easy, and as much as I’ve been a very, very lucky artist, I don’t know if “lucky” is the right word, but I’ve been very lucky and I’ve worked very, very hard, but it’s been rewarding in many ways.
Wow, candid, what are your next steps and plans?
Marie-Chloé: Honestly, that’s my plan! Being an artist is my plan. It’s my only plan, Plan A. Like I said, I don’t like to do two or many things at once. But initially, I thought my plan was to become a university professor in academia. As I realized my plan for my life as an artist, although that came later in my career, it could never be Plan B or C. My artistic work is my priority and now it’s my eternal Plan A.
We don’t see you interacting with current trends, while your creation seems to be accompanied by theoretically driven elements. Is this true?
Marie-Chloé: I would say I’m not a very theoretically oriented artist. I’m not a political artist either. I think ultimately everyone who makes art has a social commentary, but perhaps the lack of such a commentary is one of them. I just don’t like writing things on certain sheets of wrapping paper, and I don’t want the pressure of having to say this and that. It’s like I’m making this kind of politically charged and social commentary. I see my work as essentially what I’ve explored as a scientist, which is the observation and analysis of society and how it works.
What inspires you in your art to create the things you choose? I would give us an example and focus on a specific theme you’ve chosen.
Marie-Chloé: As a criminologist, I was much more involved in socio-criminology as an aspect, which was about how we organize as groups, how we disorganize, how we follow rules, how we don’t follow rules. We have social construction, how systems work, how systems are put into place. That’s what interested me and continues to be the interest of my subject throughout my art. The angle of the subject has taken different directions throughout the year, but it remains at the core of society and people. Then it gets to the point and I would say that the current theory, which is key to me, started as a group of people and everything is really, really connected. It’s never, for me, something completely new out of nowhere. Usually, when I read a book and I find my direction there, I see one thing and that thing helps me understand my subject in ways that help it grow, and then it creates my new series. I call this process ‘a mashup.’ It’s the point where a lot of things come together and then it’s a mixture of all these things that interest me and all the elements of the previous interest I’ve ever had.
What are you working on right now?
Marie-Chloé: So, yes, and it’s ongoing and I’ve started a series of works, called “Evidence of Us.” In this series, there’s a work with a table and a bouquet of flowers, and I took a minimalist but stylized approach. There’s a huge room with a wall at the end, and it was very important because I was able, almost for the first time, to really understand this empty space and this reduction of information as fullness, as a very important statement of power in my work, and that the flowers, the carefully pruned flowers, are all symbolic to me, but I also want art critics to think at their own pace about what they want. I’m not giving an explanation, and I’m not even saying it as a visual explanation of what’s obvious. A critic is called upon to create their own meaning, even based on the choice of color that I made as an artist. An example of what I use as an invitation to delve into meaning, I would welcome viewers’ own explanation, but I think it can be a different approach depending on who you are, where you come from. It could happen, even in five years, that we have a different conversation about the same object and work. Including me, because the things I put are intentional, but there is so much that I don’t put. I just don’t know yet why I put them there, and then I only understand it later, and later, sometimes and within a new set of series.
You mentioned earlier the research required to prepare your artwork. Could you explain it in more detail and connect us to the idea of ”Evidence of Us”?
Marie-Chloé: Early on, in some of these projects, I felt the need to delve into these processes as a whole. It was clear to me that there was a lot of research that I wanted to do, especially around the notion of the social cost of my flower combined with an approach to vast space, which I was trying to extract based on what I see as changes in many cultures. So I started to have questions. For example, what could this “Evidence of Us” prove? What could it mean in a Western culture or a more Eastern culture? What does it mean in the South, in the North, how do we use it in terms of its cost from a social perspective, who receives it? Who transports it? Is it pesticides, is there an environmental cost? So all these hidden systems that appear for everything that we do, but we don’t think about them, are something that interests me very, very much in terms of thinking and research.
We’re sure you’ve found something else in your research that helps you showcase your art to viewers and buyers. What is it?
Marie-Chloé: I have to say that I don’t have a specific way of doing research, but I want to add that my research is a mixture of things. It’s a mixture of experiences that I accumulate from my places. From where I’ve lived, where I’ve traveled, who I come into contact with, my friends, the people that I know. So all of that, for me, the interest in human nature is research in itself. Then I read a lot of books, from fiction to nonfiction, philosophy, podcasts, music, art history, obviously. So all of that also influences my interest, and then I start sketching.
It was the same way that I said I would sketch, for “Evidence of Us.” It started two years ago. It took me a year, drawing things. Eventually I was looking at flowers, then a bouquet, then I recognized a plant form from that. Then I was looking at nature, looking at crowds, looking at people, and I sat down. So, in my research, there’s the observation, the sitting, the time. I mean, I need to get a little bored, and then I need some mental space. But then I thought, I would also know from a sketch, and then I thought about turning it into a form of painting. From that, I’ve always been aware that I’m the type of painter who learns a lot through the painting process. I now identify with the role of a process painter and like to be surprised by what’s happening. So, it’s not like I sketch something that appeals to me, but rather a loose sketch, a recording of ideas.
But I’m also a writer, and I really love to write. I write poetry, I write notes, I write thoughts, everything, and all of that goes into research, and then I start painting. I equate that with painting, and then I let each part of my process be the moment of influence on the next piece and its direction. It takes me a while to really figure it out. I need a few paintings in a row. Then I stop and ask myself what I’m expressing here in these pieces. But in this way, I would let each piece take its own form. There’s a vague idea in the research, but it’s more like, oh, I read something that interests me. Then I read more about it, and that led me to a conclusion.
So that completely precludes creating any kind of limitation on myself or through my artistic creation. It’s also the way I look at some of my paintings and realize the artistic forms they take. I think, Oh my God, this is what I meant, this is what I was trying to achieve. Those moments are actually the most exciting in my process of achieving any piece of art.
We’ve noticed that your artwork travels a lot, which could be described as a diverse range of locations. Where are your most recent exhibitions taking place?
Marie-Chloé: They are mostly at art centers, galleries, group shows in Canada, precisely in Toronto, in Europe, and a little bit that are starting to expand at galleries in London. In some other cases of mine, I have galleries in Canada. As well as planning an exhibition show at the end of this year, it’s likely going to be a solo show, but I also have my studio in the United States, which is also used as a form of exhibition space. It’s a space that I also offer for artists to do their exhibitions. It’s an alternative art space in Brooklyn that I give access for people to show their work, but I also show my work. So any people who’re interested, they just visit my website, and my Instagram to submit a form, then if qualified they would come to the studio, and so for that part is especially free and provides an alternative to the classical galleries that artists are using.
Your beautiful, spacious apartment with high ceilings has been converted into an open-plan space for artists. Can you tell us exactly when this began and how long it’s planned to take? Is it a permanent project, something temporary, or an ongoing project you’d like to take a little further?
Marie-Chloé: So, yes, it’s “Chez-Nous.” That’s a French phrase that’s been adapted into English, and it means “At our house” or “At my house, at my place.” It’s a very colloquial, inappropriate way of saying “at my place.” It’s a phrase you use among friends. It’s a leading question when you ask friends, “So, where are we having dinner tonight?” You know! It’s a sweet-nothing that I really wanted to come up with for the name of this art space, and I thought it was cool because, as a French speaker, I could immediately relate to it, how it came about was completely random. The fact I had in mind and I was planning on moving into an apartment with really high ceilings in November 2024, and when I moved in, I thought, ‘Oh, this is great because I’m going to be entertaining a lot of people.’ I like to invite people over for dinner; that’s a really important part of community building for me.
A turning point in your creative process. Would you try to describe it to us in a conceptual sense using non-fictional images?
Marie-Chloé: So because I’ve already hosted a lot of people, I was thinking! Oh, I’m going to show my work in this huge space and on these wide walls! Why not do it here? Because I have so many friends who are artists themselves, and so I thought, and I think, who wouldn’t want to have this beautiful space, the most vibrant part of the heart of Brooklyn, to use as a studio to show their art. I thought, what do I do now? When that happens to me, I want to immediately find this alternative, the space that exists now, and I want to give it to people whose work I love. That’s all we need sometimes. You just have to be boldly creative, show your work and bring people in. Because we all know people we want to show our work to. That’s what came out of that idea, and then I decided, I thought, what? I don’t think about anything else, awakening my ever dormant habit of constantly thinking about something when I want to pursue it. So, I did it. I first created a new Instagram page, created the logo, then reached out to a few friends, and a month down the line, we completely arranged a group exhibition of seven people, which later led to a beautiful exhibition at the SDA School of Fine Arts in New York.
What does all this mean for you personally and what do you think it means for others?
Marie-Chloé: Whether I want to know it or not, what I do has a very positive impact on people, especially those I’ve brought together. Now, we have a community of like-minded people who are curious, open-minded, and willing to form that community.
What’s next for you Marie-Chloé?
Marie-Chloé: So I want my home to be a welcoming place and people to be able to say, oh, I have this little studio lifeline, because I feel like once you have a space, so many things are possible, for example an artist can actually checked off the list of little steps to become a confident artist… I mean, to be able to suppress any obstacles that might be in your mind. But I have to find the space if I want to do this thing. Really! Let’s hope this thing stays alive for a long time and continues to thrive. I’m talking to a creative friend of mine; he’s started this art collective called “Eyes on Art.” His name is Dan Rodriguez, and he contacted me a couple of days ago and said, let’s do Open Studio Weekend in Bushwick. I’m going to bring in some artists from Bushwick. We’re going to do it at your house at “Chez-nous.” When I heard him say that, I was so excited and I felt so many emotions. I thought, this is amazing, because maybe they don’t even have a studio, or maybe they work from home, but they’re still artists. So, something like that would be immediately understandable, having come from a place with their own steps, and they need the creativity outlined there.
So, when I start processing requests to use “Chez-nous”, I want to make sure that an artist meets the right criteria for using the space for their creative uniforms and has the prerequisites for approval to use the space. I have everything and a guideline on my Instagram, our goals, for anyone who wants to submit something for review. It’s good to keep in mind that I’m not in a gallery. I don’t take commissions, I don’t rent the space, everything is free. So I also don’t invite people, because for me, I already have a lot of events. I don’t want to have the pressure to bring people. So it’s the artist’s job. So if you don’t know anyone in New York who could connect you to it, this isn’t a good place for you, and you can’t even include it on your artistic resume because, in my opinion, it can’t be listed as a reference. It’s really for serious, mature, and serious artists, emerging but professional artists who have a body of work they want to talk about. They’re strong personalities who want to use it. I don’t care, but whatever an artist presents and does, is of course, acceptable to me, as long as they continue to abide by certain established rules.
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