Biography
Renee De Gagne is a Montreal-born artist. She became a full-time professional artist in 2006, after leaving behind a successful career as a management consultant.
She works in mixed media which enables her to innovate and integrate several materials : acrylic paints and mediums, ink, charcoal, Japanese papers, etc. Through her warm color palette, she captures the energy of a city by maintaining a balance between figuration and abstraction.
She has won several awards in Canada and in the United States. Her artwork is present in many private and corporate collections across Canada, the United States, Europe and Australia.
Statement
My artwork focuses on our architectural heritage. I consider urban architecture as the pillar of our historical memory and I wish to pay tribute to this presence.
As an artist, I feel privileged to act as an intermediary, to bring the Viewer to see the city differently and to realize the importance of architecture.
I try to offer a new, original look at buildings, at heir role, their dynamics in different contexts and cultures, and the urban changes over time.
I work only on the cities I know well, which I visited several times and that bring to my mind memories, stories and pictures. Starting from my own photographs, I research on the history of the buildings that I target. Then, I interpret this information and start painting instinctively and intuitively.
Buildings have a story, an experience, a soul, an intimacy. Let’s just walk together and leave the architecture speak to us!
I also work, in parallel, on a more abstract series based on « Nature », which helps me maintain spontaneity and avoid the rational to intervene too much in my urban environments. This approach allows me to free my mind, to go with an unstudied plan, a free movement and maintain a balance between figuration and abstraction in all my paintings.
I hope my message to be simple, direct, an invitation to consider the city but also life differently, and above all, to let place to your own interpretation.
