Suzanne Paquette

Suzanne Paquette’s Artist Statement

Tapestry is the medium of expression that I have always favored. Over the years, I have questioned, through the upright loom tapestry, our relationship to textiles and the roles that these play in our existence. Focusing more specifically on its role as a border between the private and the public, I approached this theme in various ways by exploring the language of the tapestry in coherence with current pictorial concerns. If the upright loom tapestry is often regarded as closely related to painting, it differs significantly from it, because its inherent qualities in its function forbid it and its matter is opposed to it. The gesture, the treatment of the color, and the material are all methods of meaning that enrich this questioning by giving shape to an emotion and a perception.

Having stayed several times in Morocco, my recent tapestries are inspired by my discovery of this country and my encounter with its culture. Thus, my palette of colors widens by integrating the warmer and intense colors of Morocco. The themes I cover are transformed by incorporating symbolic elements referring to the condition and universe of the woman. The recurring theme of the border is this renewed context. Here, it takes the shape of the door to cross as a symbol of the passage between the private and the public, what is allowed and not, between the opening and the closing.

In summary, the immutable gesture of weaving has been and still remains my anchor.

Suzanne Paquette’s Biography

Suzanne Paquette is a Canadian artist who lives in Quebec City. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in arts from the Université du Québec à Montréal. She also studied at the Banff Centre for arts and creativity in Alberta. Her tapestries have been shown in numerous exhibitions in Canada and abroad, including the 4th, 10th, 11th, and soon the 13th ATA Biennial. Many of them are part of public and private collections. Paquette has also taught fine arts at Cégep Limoilou in Quebec City for over 25 years and went to work in Morocco on numerous occasions between 2006 and 2019 as an advisor for the development of professional training in fine crafts.