For France Jodoin’s upcoming solo show at Principle Gallery’s Charleston, South Carolina, location, the artist presents 12 fresh pieces that invite the viewer on an inward journey. Aptly titled Inner Landscapes, the show highlights Jodoin’s dreamlike, ethereal style, with varying subject matter but depictions of water are certainly a favorite of the artist.
“There is never a particular theme in any of my exhibitions,” Jodoin says. “My paintings are a collage of many pieces of information that are never specific to a place, person or object. I am inspired by a multitude of sensory experiences: a trip I may have taken years ago, a clip from a film or abstract thoughts that I am compelled to express on canvas.”
After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor, oil on linen, 48 x 72 in.
What inspires Jodoin is not necessarily what she’s seen but what she’s felt, resting in her mind for years. “Ideas come to the surface, not unlike waves that come and go; waves whose ebb and flow I do not control,” she explains. “Over the past 25 years, the imagery in my work has evolved to include different subjects—boats, figures, architectures and flowers, but I would say that water is at the center of my work, in every painting, whether it looks like a frozen pond, a mist, fog, a river, the sea or wet pavement.”Jodoin also notes that the subjects in her work act as mirrors of our “secret geographies.”
Where the mind withdraws into its happiness, oil on linen, 54 x 54 in.
“They trace the contours of a territory both familiar and mysterious: that of our inner world,” she explains. “The urgency of daily life fades away, giving place to a silent encounter between the gaze and the pictorial matter. The approach is not new. I continue to explore, to revisit the various subjects I paint. As always, the subjects painted do not tell a story; they offer a space for contemplation where each person can draw from their own resonances, their own memories, their own emotions.”
Leave me here a little, while as yet ‘tis early morn, oil on linen, 54 x 60 in.
In one particular show highlight, Where the mind withdraws into its happiness, Jodoin was greatly influenced by her time in Ireland for an artist residency. “Contrary to other residencies where I choose a place near the ocean, this time I was inland, surrounded by nature, wooded plots and fields,” says the artist. “During my stay, I did almost 100 watercolor studies of nature around me. This painting is evocative of the silence and quietude I found during my daily walks.” The artist was also inspired by her time in India when she rode an elephant through the jungle, noticing how small everything looked below her. This experience led her to explore placing small figures next to large objects in her work.
Step lightly on this narrow spot, oil on wood panel, 8 x 12 in.
For After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor, we see female figures wading in water. “A sense of time spent waiting or watching is unambiguous, but few details are given to attach particular cause to what is being watched or waited upon,” Jodoin says. “My ancestors left France in 1666 to come to Canada, so when I paint figures like the women in this painting, I somehow wonder what their thoughts might have been; their emotions, their aspirations. I did not intend to paint a portrait in the classical sense, where the priority is to capture likeness, but rather ignite in the beholder a desire to ask what is happening and why, what came before and what comes next.”
Head to Principle Gallery in Charleston, South Carolina, to view these stunning pieces and many more, from March 6 through 31. A reception will be held opening day from 5 to 8 p.m. —
Principle Gallery 125 Meeting Street • Charleston, SC 29401 • (843) 727-4500 • www.principlegallery.com/charleston
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