Photo Caroline Jacques
“She innovates through her way of arriving at knowledge through instinct, through observing herself as though she were a stranger, through her way of taking time. By immersing the biological and psychological self in a moment that pushes it beyond itself, Claude Saint-Jacques confronts art with the immediacy of reality; escaping all theory, she invents another way of being, asserting herself with great freedom by opening herself to situations that offer other possibilities for life—or survival.”
Hedwidge Asselin, Vie des arts
“In her large canvases, the warm golds and subtle reds evoke ancient, almost mythical colors. The artist engages in a physical dialogue with the canvas, scratching and inscribing marks like a form of cave writing. The numbers and symbols become a kind of intimate signature, engraved into the material itself.”
Lucie Dufour, Guide Mont-Royal
“Rarely have I encountered an artist to whom the word doubt fits so perfectly. Her doubt is calm yet unceasing, like a wave that returns again and again. From this tension emerges a painting in which each gesture becomes a struggle between impulse and restraint.”
Robert Bernier, Parcours
« I paint bodies that have stories to tell—stories of love and life.
Through an emotional conceptual framework, I describe the stages of their journey through time.…
Trained in printmaking at the Fine Arts School, I love scratching the surface and discover what lies hidden beneath. I apply multiple layers of paint, scrape them away, and add more, all while scratching into the acrylic and still-wet varnish. The patina effect is achieved using my fingers and the palms of my hands. I use metallic mediums to bring brightness and richness. I am drawn to the idea of light—or emptiness—coming from within.»
Claude St-Jacques
“The mystery of Claude St-Jacques’s art lies in what is concealed beneath the surface of the portrait. It is as though a manifestation of the invisible had entered the body—perhaps the soul. The artist strips away the layers of being to reduce it to a symbol charged with meaning.”
Dorota Kozinska, Parcours
“The pleasure of viewing is accompanied by an unsettling impression: the viewer is projected into the center of a scene already in progress. These bodies, without heads or arms, seem at once imprisoned and in a state of exaltation. Claude St-Jacques invites us to enter a poetic universe where each body has its own story.”
Michel Bois, Le Soleil
