Michel Gautier

The Artist

Michel Gautier is a cosmic figurative sculptor, poet and philosopher. Of French origin, he is now Canadian. He thinks that the human being is a part of a whole, no more, no less important than a river, a forest or a mountain range.

He speaks about illusion of separation between us and the rest of creation. He denounces the unconsciousness of homo centrism with its blind materialism, erected as a norm.

We depend on the quality of our environment and its state reflects our state.

His work has as its theme the forest and the spirits that inhabit it, it is a point of view and an ecological metaphor of the most relevant.

His installations serve as a theatre for his performances. It is a search for meaning for a "total art", multi-media and multi-sensory, which is a true interactive experience for the public.

"Our thoughts have always materialized. We thought and created our world. So today we have to think differently"

In Quebec, he renewed his artistic practice with the printed arts.

He was determined to exploit this medium with the sculptor's approach and had the vision of a totem forest. This will be his poetic ecological response to deforestation. His totem forest he made with a paper for the manufacture of which no trees were cut, i.e. recycled paper. From 2009 to 2014 he explored papermaking with Papeterie St. Armand in Montreal. That's where he chose to work with cotton pulp from recycling. His forest has grown. With about thirty totems, it has become an installation, then the theatre of her performances. That speak of the instinct of domination and the illusion of separation that generates a chronic dissociation of the human and its environment.

This search for meaning is inseparable from his work, it inspires and nourishes him.

Globe trotter, graphic designer/illustrator in Paris in the early 80s, he created the communication agency OUTREMER in Martinique in 1986. In 1991 he moved to Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. After exhibiting frequently in Quebec, he settled there in 2004. Today he is a Canadian citizen.

From Benin, where he was born, to Quebec, animist cultures have inspired him by their intimate relationship with the world around them.

“I am a migrant artist with a soul of many origins. I explore the places where roots meet, and where all space – or belonging – becomes one. I am looking for the Identity that brings us together " he says.

The many territories where he has lived have naturally led him to question his identity. He connected African and Amerindian cultures and he chose to be from the Earth, the unique place where he lives.