Interview with Sandra Chevrier
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Sandra Chevrier currently lives in Montreal, Quebec. Her work takes her traveling over a broad range of fluctuating emotional enigmas and concepts that have set the standard of our modern communication. Working in a home studio, Sandra produces her work at a full-time scale, aggressively pursuing a common thread until it is worn away, leaving her to begin on a new path. She exposes the limitations within our world, our self-imposed expectations and the cages we have allowed to bar us from fullness of life’s experience.
The series "cages" is about women trying to find freedom from society's twisted preconceptions of what a woman should or shouldn't be. These women encased in these cages of brash imposing paint or comic books that masks their very person symbolizes the struggle that women go through with having these false expectations of beauty and perfection as well as the limitations society places on women, corrupting what truly is beautiful by placing women in these prisons of identity. By doing so, society is asking them to become superheroes.
Hi Sandra, today MoW selected 7 of your artworks inspired by music. Can you tell MoW how music inspired them ? What was the music behind the artworks ? What inspired you to create them ?
Music has always been a part of the process of creation of my Art. There is mostly always some music when I draw, or paint. It surely inspires the piece in many ways, I could not say how exactly. Maybe, in the way it has an effect on the way I feel when I paint, on my mood, on my gesture, on the way I hold a pen or paintbrush so the result will surely be affected by it.
Why is music important to you and your art?
Art has always been a way for me to express myself, and also it is for me a language on its own. When I feel sad, I will listen to music that will have the same energy then I do on a particular day. I sometimes listen to a song over and over again until I finish a piece, it can even be a bit weird. It surely happened that a song played 50 times back to back, it becomes a part of the environment, and at a point, I don't even hear the melody anymore, it becomes as soothing as silence can be. It calms me.
If you had to choose between the artworks presented today, which of your artwork would be your favorite ? And why ?
I always want the piece that I am working on to be the one I will be the most proud of, unfortunately it doesn’t happen like this. It is even rare to feel satisfaction, but when it happens, it is such an amazing feeling. To look at something and to tell yourself ‘’Really, I did this, wow!!!’’ I particularly like the piece ‘’La Cage et le battement de coeur’’ on paper. It is quite different than the other works I did on the "Super Hero Cages" series, something really soft, almost something coming from heaven in the way she looks up to the sky and Superman coming down from the clouds. I also love the contrast between the realist part of the portrait and the more random and raw feeling in the hair.
Can you tell MoW more about the techniques you used. How old is your technique? How did it start? How long does it take you to make an artwork ?
I was used to draw with a pencil and paint with acrylic for almost the past 10 years. I felt really comfortable with that, but since last year I feel that I want to try new things, to explore, to take risks. Before this series, I never did collage and not a lot of water-colours. So a part of what I do is still brand new to me but I am still faithful to my classics. With years it takes a lot less time then it use to to finish an art piece. But the good answer would be that it took me 30 years to finish my last canvas, experience is the end result.
I've always had Art in me, even when I was a child, when all my family was playing card I was in a corner drawing or doing crafts with my aunt.
Do you have plans on creating new artworks inspired by music ?
I sometimes like to use parts of lyrics of songs I love, or songs I've listened to while painting, in my titles. Music will always be a part of my life, so yes surely. We’ll see!
Do you listen to music when you’re working ? If so, what kind of music ?
Yes I do, and it depends, I like different styles. I always go back to Jeff Buckley, Radiohead, Nina Simone, Edith Piaf, Arcade Fire. These days I really enjoy Lana Del Rey, Lorde, Bon Iver, Daft Punk. I also have a turntable and I like listening to the old vinyls that my father gave me Nat King Cole, Roy Orbison, Sammy Davis Jr., George Benson, Miles Davis, James Brown…
What is the song you liked the most lately? The album ? What was the last gig you went to?
I love ‘’Jeanne d’Arc’’ by Arcade Fire
"Ride" by Lana Del Rey.
Last gig was The Pixies and I am attending the Lana Del Rey first concert in Montreal.
Are you a musician yourself ?
Wish I was but no. I have always been surrounded by people really passionate by music or musician or singers. It is really inspiring and I can say that I am a huge music lover myself.
My child father is a singer songwriter and sometimes I wish that my son will have a beautiful voice just like is dad. He is 4 so he is just starting to really like singing lullabies and cute songs and it is so Oh so charming!
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