Julie Ann Bertram
Special to the Tribune
Stéphanie Dupuis, a Franco-Ontarian contemporary artist based in West Nipissing, is currently showing her first solo exhibit in North Bay. The exhibit titled ‘La nature en nous/The nature within us’ is on at the WKP Gallery, in the Capitol Centre, until December 19.
The exhibit launched during North Bay’s Downtown Gallery Hop on November 17, and several supporters from West Nipissing and beyond were there to celebrate, to Dupuis’ delight. “The opening went very well. I had a lot of people come out to support me, and there were multiple art activities happening at the same time. What was most important is that a lot of family came out – I have an elderly uncle who just had eye surgery, he was losing his eyesight, and he’s an absolutely phenomenal painter, so for him to see my paintings and to get feedback from him was a really nice moment for me.”
Also on hand were Dupuis’ parents, Nicolle and Michael of Sturgeon Falls, who were beaming with pride.
Dupuis’ collection is inspired by the natural environment of West Nipissing, where she grew up hunting and fishing. She attended La Résurrection and Franco-Cité before moving to Montreal, completing her BFA in Painting and Drawing, with a double major in First Peoples Studies at Concordia University in 2019. After stints working with arts and culture organizations in Nova Scotia and Sudbury, she then made her way back home to West Nipissing, where she now resides.
Dupuis’ turbulent pieces are full of depth and her work “shines a light on environmental issues”, as she describes. “A lot of it is inspired by our identities within the environment, our relationships to where we live, and climate change…healing… but also what hardship means in climate distress. There’s a hyper awareness about our climate reality with all these technologies kind of reminding us of that. When you go out in nature you feel a sense of grounding, like what it means to be human… but it’s confusing. I’m trying to unpack all that with my paintings in terms of what it means to live in northern Ontario and what it entails in our responsibilities given that there’s a lot of environmental damage coming around us. A lot of the paintings capture a little bit of pollution, there’s oil spill textures coming in through the bottom, a little bit of forest fire… there’s all kinds of components to every painting. It’s also like a psychological self-portrait and how I feel about these issues. I’ve had my own journey with mental health and when I was going through it, I met a lot of other people who were living with eco-anxiety and stress about the state of the world and how all these issues come together. I treat painting as a form of journaling, it allows me to process a lot of difficult emotions and concerns, and once it’s on the canvas it takes on a life of its own.”
Once settled in West Nipissing again, Dupuis “came to grips with the inspiration for a lot of these paintings. They started out in Montreal as discarded pieces, sort of unidimensional, they would not have come to be had I not returned to West Nipissing. I’ve had the chance to reconnect with all those things that are important to me.”
The artist’s love for creativity and her northern Ontario home led to questioning about why West Nipissing doesn’t have a gallery anymore. “I don’t know what happened to that local gallery, I used to work there. I wish there were more exhibiting spaces in Sturgeon… I worked in a rural area in Cape Breton, business consulting with artists, promoting their practice, and that type of position is needed in West Nipissing. There is nothing like that here, for artists to learn how to promote and show, that’s why I had to leave for eight years. People need help to find resources, like grants or to put on a volunteer driven show… there are ways to organize, it’s just about doing it, and building a network. I’m looking for more people to collaborate with. It’s great that there are murals being painted, and there are so many impressive artists in the north including Indigenous artists – there’s such a strong tradition of the arts up here that’s not being manifested the same way as it is in the city.” Perhaps Dupuis is just the person to help develop these resources locally.
WKP Gallery is showing Dupuis’ work until December 19, Tuesday-Saturday 12-4pm. A closing party and ‘Tis The Season Soirée’ will be held from 7:30-11pm on Saturday, December 16. Tickets are $25 and everyone is invited to attend with formal attire for a celebratory evening, marking the successful culmination of the 2023 season.
