Périphéries

Brigitte Coulombe is an artist in Northern Ontario, Canada. Her work in this show are semi-abstracted minimalistic interpretations of Lake Nipissing. Floating free on the wall, they are unframed.

This show was held in the La Galerie Du Nouvel-Ontario in Sudbury during November, and while there I had an opportunity for a look.  These pieces are quite stripped back in terms of content, so one is forced to imagine a great deal.  They are “semi”-abstract as the artist herself sees the lines across her work as an explicit interpretation of the horizon, but at the same time, the absence of a point of reference, does leave one floating free, like the work hanging on the wall.

I quite like these works, partly because they are large and so have a real presence, but also for her stripped back use of colour, and her effort to achieve this lack of place association, despite the works being of a specific place.  People who have experienced snow on a frozen lake, and the impression of the horizon, will grasp these paintings quickly.