Ève K. Tremblay's 'Fleurs d'archives' closes at Strand Gallery Nov. 18

Robin Caudell, The Press-Republican, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
·3 min read

Nov. 9—PLATTSBURGH — In "Fleurs d'archives," artist Ève K. Tremblay contemplates the detritus from the Champlain Sea, and the potential of submersion again in the Earth's perilous climactic present.

Curated by New York City-based Zeljka Himbele, Tremblay's solo exhibition at the Strand Center for the Arts runs through Nov. 18.

This exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Tremblay's mother, Michèle Ménard-Tremblay (1943-2023).

It may take several passes or visits to consider all strata of time, humans, animals, and physical processes layered in Tremblay's 58 works — ceramics, drawings, paintings and works on fabric — that riff off each other, hold space with each other and viewers.

In her artist statement, she writes:

"In Fleurs d'archives, I present works that explore personal consciousness within a collective landscape. The exhibition features ceramics, drawings, paintings and works on fabric, interacting with each other. Some images come from my research into the photographic archives of the Strand Center for the Arts. They are staged around my own extensive photo archive such as my past works with scientists, as well as the current photographs I took in my local community with both digital and analog cameras. Then I transferred them onto paper, fabric, white stoneware forms, fire bricks, NYC-style subway tiles, glazed hand-built porcelain, or ceramics as studio-made fired decals. Ceramics shapes are echoed in colored pencil drawing on paper and on acrylic paintings on canvas."

"Stratipodes Recollection" (Installation, photographic on fabric, ceramics) is a confluence of media where the submerged is raised and made touchable. Stratipode is word she invented to depict imaginary mineral beings that live in the geological stratas.

Tremblay writes:

"Surreal landscapes emerge from installations, merging layers of time and combining flashes of memories. Ceramics porcelain dolls, first created as book holders, were photographed in their in-between-fire states at Point au Roche State Park, where I brought them as walking companions during the deep pandemic moments, when the USA/CA border was shut down, and before I could form my new, local community."

In the Strand Gallery, her porcelain companions — "Letrice en robe de neige," "Letrice verte bla bla bla," and "Reading Lines" — are framed between "Feuilles de lecture entre les feux" and "Sortir du tunnel avec bol vert."

Tremblay writes:

"Local friends, creatives, and young farmers appear in more recent photographic surfaces."

These include "Anne preparing night," a dye-sublimation pigment print on cotton linen, and "Anne couvrant les fleurs," white stoneware, glazes, decals, (3 fires).

Tremblay writes:

"A short video entitled 'Archive d'eau' brings to life the possible future of photo-pebbles, where one may also be able to experience an in-between state, where dissolution of stories can offer a meditative state.

"Some photographs created before the border opened present sail boats with Québécois names in state of stillness, hibernating through two summers, waiting for the border to open and to start moving freely in the wind again.

"Some images from my family archive relate to my personal history of living on the New York- side shores of Lake Champlain, throughout the pandemic. Historical images have been chosen for their resonance with my personal history and interest; my artistic process fully embraces the non-objective treatment of historical photographs that can both lose their original meanings and find new ones. I feel like I've just begun with opening of what seems like Pandora's box of images, revealing the often hidden and complicated Québécois heritage of this border region. For this reason, I have chosen an exhibition title in French — Fleurs d'archives (Archives' Flowers). Most of the artworks included in the exhibition also hold titles in French, often of poetic nature."

In "La magie des plantes," Tremblay deftly executes a sleight of hand. White stoneware ripples like cloth.

All throughout the exhibit, the artist makes you take a second, third and fourth look.

There's a lot going on.

Email: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com

Twitter@RobinCaudell