36 Vicky Sabourin
Title: Glove
Dimensions: N/A
Year of Completion: 2019
Medium: Sculpture/Porcelain - Silk
Estimated Value: $460
Courtesy of the Artist
The long silk glove was made to fit the artist hand. The transparency of the silk evokes a molting snake, as if she had shed her own skin covered with barnacles. The barnacles are also similar to warts enhancing the potential of a witchcraft transformation. The first time the artist worked with barnacles was during a residency at the Banff Center for the Arts in 2016. She was particularly interested in its invasive and parasitic properties. The barnacle usually clings to anything or organism that is in constant contact with seawater. Once it settles, it does not move anymore of its existence. Barnacle is a hermaphroditic animal, in which fertilization is usually crossed, but it becomes impossible when individuals are more than 10 cm apart, in which case it uses selfing.
Vicky Sabourin lives and works in Montreal. She holds a master’s degree in visual arts from Concordia University. Her work has been presented in art galleries, museums and artist-run centres in Canada, the United States, and Europe. Recent solo exhibitions of her work include Les Curiosités at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (MNBAQ), Danse Macabre at L’Oeil de Poisson in Quebec city and at Sporobole in Sherbrooke. Warmblood has been exhibited across the country; from Eastern Edge Gallery in St John’s Newfoundland, Struts Gallery in New Brunswick, the Hamilton Artists Inc in Ontario to Access Gallery in Vancouver. Sabourin’s piece Lac caché was part of the event Manif d’art 8, Biennale d’art contemporain du Québec, presented at the MNBAQ. In December 2014 she was named emerging artist of the year by the newspaper La Presse and was a finalist for the Pierre Ayot Award. She is a recipient of grants from the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec and the Canada Council for the Arts.
Over the years, photography, performance and installation have become inseparable in the practice of Vicky Sabourin. Working primarily with the tableau vivant and the diorama, she delves into the multiple layers of her own identity. Her artistic practice is rooted in stories. Sabourin pulls fragments of stories from tales, historical events or family stories. They mark her imagination and stimulate a strong emotional reaction that she wishes to transpose into installation and performance. Through the exploration of her fantasy world, the viewer can experience a combination of desire and fear, awe and wonder.