AN EVOCATIVE NARRATIVE OF FEMALE PUBERTY
After Beyond the Looking Glass, a series of photomontages inspired by the workings of children's imagination, I have naturally transitioned, in Northern Crossing, to explore the period of early female adolescence.
ARTISTIC STATEMENT
Female puberty, a time between two worlds... As the mother of two teenage girls (my models), the topic is of particular interest to me. Having to shape one’s identity in a constantly changing body entails a need for affirmation on very shaky, vulnerable grounds. Thirst for freedom comes with a silent call for boundaries as a young girl’s awareness of her new allure in the world generates both excitement and anxiety. Typical adolescent awkwardness runs alongside intense creativity as different selves are explored.
I carefully stage my shots and draw on my digital compositing skills to illustrate the myriad of contradictory fears and desires at play during this complex stage of development. Québec’s Nordic territory is omnipresent. I elected to place my lightly dressed models in incongruous frozen landscapes to stress the unsettling strangeness that characterizes this often confusing time. The winter leitmotiv also acts as a « clin d’oeil » to cosmological interpretations of fairy tales like Snow White and Sleeping Beauty that view the pubescent princesses’ sleeping spells as metaphors for the numbing of nature during the cold season.
In short, my intention, with Northern Crossing, is to give poetic voice and imagery to the passage from girlhood to womanhood.
The majority of the images from this series were shot along the shores of the St. Lawrence River during an artistic residency at the Centre d'art de Kamouraska in 2015.
A grant from SODEC was awarded in 2016 to complete the postproduction work.
