Bio

Karine Guyon is a self-taught artist who has lived and worked in major Canadian cities such as Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa as well as in Barcelona, Spain. She is currently living and working in Montreal. She has exhibited her work at Diane Farris Gallery; Van., LES Gallery; Van., Chatham-Kent Gallery; ON., Propeller Gallery; TO., The Science and Technology Museum of Ottawa; ON., The Hamption Gallery; MTL., Galerie POPOP Gallery; MTL., I Like Your Work; NY., and Deanna Evans Project; NY.

In 2022-2023, fifteen of her paintings were purchased by Turveta Holdings; Dubai. Her paintings can also be found in other corporate collections such as the Porter Housing Society; VAN and the Simon Fraser University; Van. Her work can also be found in private collection in Canada, Europe and New Zealand.

In 2015, Guyon has received the Emerging Artist Grant awarded by Ontario Arts Council. From 2019-2022 she has been awarded several Operating Art Grants from the Montreal Council for the Art and the City of Montreal. Guyon has received several private art grants for her collaborative analog and digital installation entitled ‘‘Kaleidoscopy’’. 

Karine Guyon - Artist Statement 2023

b.1977

As a self-taught, abstract, and process-based painter, my work seeks to unveil what my mind perceives, but that my eye cannot see or my reason comprehends. In my daily practice, I seek to understand the intricate connection that exists between colors, forms,universal and psychic space. My profound desire is to transcend the daily life on planet earth. Through repetition of grid patterns, I find a meditative flow that brings structure to my chaotic mark-making and a window into the intangible of the world within and the possibility of worlds beyond.

Materiality is central to my artistic choices. I manipulate, alter, and combine various elements - scraping, scratching, cutting, and sometimes even tearing is part of the journey. Along with the use of traditional painting materials, I often use unconventional materials such as ultraviolet, mirror, and metallic pigments as well as glitters. Recently, I have been inclined to add recycled dried paint, pieces of old paintings, and textured fabrics into my work.

Time is a critical dimension within my artistic practice and a dynamic force that shapes the evolution of my work. A painting can take months even years before it is considered finished. During this process, I navigate between two distinct temporal realms. In one, I am immersed in a whirlwind of fast-paced and impulsive decision-making where I spontaneously strip away paint and create marks on the surface. Conversely, the other realm is a deliberately slow process of thick oil paint application, punctured by intervals of patient drying time and paramount observation.