2023 | MYRIAM DION - Jardins
TORONTO
Feb 17 - Apr 8, 2023
Opening: Saturday, Thursday, Feb 16, 2023 - 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Blouin Division is pleased to present new works by Myriam Dion. Jardins exhibits two recent series; one made by collage and meticulous cutting of pages from old books on flowers and gardens; the other made by weaving and cut out of painted and drawn Japanese paper. 

The acquisition of old books about gardens or botany constitutes the cornerstone of this exhibition project, which is divided into two series of five and seven works, respectively, and an installation of larger drawings. The first series is essentially geometric in nature and follows the principles of domino printed paper. In the foreground, the series integrates various illustrations of plant specimens, arranged in a sort of grid that creates a planimetry of zones, flowerbeds and paths. The works are lined with a meticulously openwork background that amplifies the composition’s geometry.

Conversely, and although it is informed by the first series, the second series offers the viewer a more fluid and abstract body of work. Expressing both the artist's own ideation of gardens and her feelings after reading literary passages, the works’ chromatic and formal impressions in movement are drawn and painted on Japanese paper. The application of a rigorous process of cutouts on these undulating surfaces and the desire to include the greatest possible variety of motifs is not, however, without recalling, on the one hand, the care and attention necessary for the upkeep of a garden. On the other hand, the process isn’t foreign to that function of the floretum and arboretum of organizing and structuring a vast collection of plant specimens within a microcosm.

To fully experience a garden, the walker must slow their pace, wander without a precise itinerary, get lost, until their mind wanders freely, out of time, leading them to perceive the poetic reality of the universe around them. In a similar way, the body of work gathered in this exhibition invites the viewer to move through the space and let their gaze rest, dive, get lost among the abundance of details, follow the sinuous paths of the drawings in order to allow the mind, if not the body, to momentarily move away from the daily tumult and try to find the serene and peaceful atmosphere of the garden. 

- Myriam Dion

« Si hortum cum bibliotheca habes, nil deerit. »

[“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.’’]

Marcus Tullius Cicero - Ad Familiares, letter IV to Varron