Jacklyn Laflamme
Statement:
Art
My paintings make their mark on many levels. At the outset I engage with the structure of the works, creating canvases vibrant with kaleidoscopic, rhythmically pulsating color and constant movement, shimmering with wit and a sophisticated cosmopolitan awareness. This all in the context of a subject matter that seems at first glance to be almost adult-sophisticated anime in style.
My work is populated with the cultural icons of our time in dialog with a wide range of art and style influences of the last half-century: atomic, surrealism, pop and psychedelia to name a few. I take the popular icons of modern life and re-purpose them as symbols to chart the emotional challenges, conundrums, reversals and achievements as they reflect the interiority of modern woman’s life-experience. This I believe places my work firmly within a new symbolist movement.
Art that we can live with is invariably that which involves us in a conversation with ourselves about how we see our world and interact with everyday life. Because there is a strong narrative element in the paintings my collector’s talk about “taking a vacation” within a picture or “going to the movies” with a work. They also talk about returning from an immersion in the volcanic eruptions of color swept along by the movement and intrigue of the story with a feeling of being enriched and re-charged.
Background
I was born and raised in Montreal, Canada, graduating with degrees in Creative Arts and Interior Design, both with honors. While studying creative arts, I apprenticed myself to Canadian paint maker where I gained a comprehensive, hands-on education for the elemental materials of my craft: How the grinding of pigments can affect the brilliance of a color, to the mixing of the binders, solvents and additives that create the body of the paint and how different manufacturing techniques affect the intensity of hues. This has given me the foundation to intelligently experiment with different color mediums that manifests itself in the riotous color that drenches my canvases.
Before returning to my studies and while working my way thru Interior Design school I began leveraging my design sensibilities as a Visual Display Artist; an early training ground I share with such art luminaries as Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and Willem DeKooning. I joined Image Display, Montreal’s leading visual display company, and attribute my sure sense of line, balance, structure, form and harmony to the five years I spent creating life size and larger than life installations.
Upon graduation, my professional career literally took off as I entered the world of interior design for corporate jets. Over the next 10 years I designed interiors for Bombardier in Montreal, Lear Jet in Tucson and Gulfstream in Savannah. In this work I traveled the world designing complete interiors (and supervising the build out process) for heads of state, nobility and the leaders of the business, sports and entertainment worlds.
In 2000, I committed myself to painting full-time. I was emboldened in this decision by the success of my first solo show, selling four paintings on opening night. In the last 12 years I have has sold hundreds of paintings through galleries and direct commissions.
Audience
To successful women in business, the arts and entertainment my work is almost immediately an open book of irony, wit, agony, yearning and truth. They recognize and deconstruct the powerful symbolism represented by the context of the cultural icons within my canvases. They “get” the issues and the commentary that runs through my energizing subjects and stories.
The images depicted in my canvases, while readily accessible to the worldly and sophisticated woman, also offer empowering interpretive insights to the man fascinated by the feminine mystique. Because of this my pictures have a reputation for electrifying theirs owners with meaningful conversation.
In fact, the accessibility of this wordless dialog between artist and participant about life and relationships, has led collectors to encourage some of my more playful work in founding collections for the younger generations.
Technical Viewpoint
Structure is the primary force in my body of work, manifesting itself in the line, shape, balance and movement of the narrative. Experimentation with the interaction of hues and the juxtaposition of tints and shades is also central to my message. Deeply influenced by the discoveries of Josef Albers I work my palette to the far boundaries of the spectrum, manipulating the paint to form layers of color to the point were my subjects literally glow; and as each year passes I feel myself getting closer and closer to creating hues that may never have been seen before.
Along with the professional concern for form and color rides my obsession with minute detail throughout the swirl of storylines that drive my acrylic on canvas paintings: the result I believe is constant intrigue and work that offers endless interpretive possibilities for art you can live with and love.
1-Jacklyn Laflamme - It's A Jungle
2-Jacklyn
Laflamme - JLf_Final_Logo
3-Jacklyn
Laflamme - Whirling Dervish
