Festival Art Souterrain

Jacynthe Carrier explores various ways of living collectively by creating performative scenes that intersect the human body and territory. Her photographs and videos blend documentary and fictional elements, presenting multiple narratives that emphasize the power of our collective presence and physical form. The installation Jeux et variations features a selection of projects produced between 2009 and 2019, with significant emphasis on images from JEU (2019), showcasing fifteen children engaged in play at a concrete quarry. In a creative, spontaneous, and collaborative manner, the children utilize the available materials and invent gestures, transforming the harsh, uninhabited space into their own playground. The performance photographs are reimagined by the artist and her daughter Margot, who added colour and glitter to the images. Alongside this body of work, additional photographs and a video explore how both children’s gestures and the essence of play are revived or repurposed in adult contexts.

The artist also engages in playful experimentation by assembling pieces made from various colours and shapes across different projects, thereby reinventing her work and transforming the dedicated exhibition space.

Born in Lévis, Carrier resides with her family in Quebec City, along the banks of the Akiawenrahk River (St-Charles). She has worked with imagery and the living world for over fifteen years. Holding a Master’s degree in Photography from Concordia University, she creates performances and installations that examine connectivity and the potential for new narratives related to territory. Carrier adopts a participatory approach in her work, collaborating closely with those involved. She has received numerous honours throughout her career, including the Prix Pierre-Ayot in 2012, the Prix Videre Création in 2015, and two nominations for the Sobey Arts Awards in 2013 and 2017. Since 2008, she has exhibited her work in various contexts, primarily in Quebec and across Canada, the United States, France, Belgium, and Mexico.