Mélissa Primeau

Mélissa Primeau's practice is based on a method of abstract, gestural painting. The scale of her works plays a special role in her artistic language.That's why her world comes alive in large formats. This creates immersive works, made of intuitive assemblages.

The work always begins on the ground. Standing, crouching, hands outstretched, she superimposes different materials: acrylic, plaster, sand, texturizing medium and aerosol, among others. She plays with surfaces, accumulating layers to create effects of gradation and depth. Following an instinctive process, she works intensely without knowing the result. This creates a dialogue of action and response between her, the materials and the surfaces, until the final work is discovered.

Mélissa explores a number of themes through her painting, including dreams phosphenes and mythical representations. The common thread running through these subjects is the unconscious. Mélissa Primeau paints to pay homage to and enhance the legacy of the women artists in her family. Even today, she uses her great-aunt's pastels in her canvases. With her art, she aims to heal the strong women of her lineage, too often oppressed, tired and overshadowed. By painting, Mélissa Primeau takes possession of these women's stories, turning them into a symbol of emancipation and free speech.

Born in 1992 in a Montérégie suburb, Mélissa Primeau moved to Montreal in 2011. Since then, she has lived and worked in the metropolis. With a multidisciplinary background that has always focused on sensitive creation, she concentrates her practice on the visual arts. Through lyrical abstraction, she explores the inexhaustible physical possibilities of painting.

Sélection d'œuvres


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