I am a practicing visual artist with a Masters of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University of Art and Design (2020). Drawing and walking are at the core of my practice. Drawing connects my mind to my hand, walking connects my body to the environment. My practice is firmly rooted in the places where I have lived but also reflect a abstracted interpretation of these spaces. I draw inspiration from urban architecture, routes, pathways and maps.
Whether making small works on paper or installing larger works in gallery spaces my drawings and installation pieces are built into and fixed onto surfaces. The blending of chalk, charcoal, graphite, and oil pastel into paper substrates or the sanding of painted surfaces implies a material physicality important to the work.
I have exhibited a number of wall installations most recently “spaces BETWEEN” and “Paper Trails” comprised of many small pieces that meander from end to end along the gallery walls. My intention is that the viewer must move through the space to fully view the work. These installations embrace the idea that we must get up and move to fully understand and engage with our environments. My intentions for my artmaking are the same, that the work must entice the viewer to experience art not only from a digital screen but from a physical experience that involves both the eyes and the body. It is through this engagement I explore tenuous connections about impermanence in our built environments.
Nicole LeBoutillier
Born in 1969 in Minnedosa, Canada
Resides and works in Mazatlan, Mexico
Education:
2020 Master of Fine Arts Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Vancouver, Canada
1993 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax, Canada
Selected Exhibitions:
2023 Paper Trails, Installation, Columbia Valley Arts Cultural Center, Invermere, Canada
2022 Love Letter to the Landfill, Installation, Revelstoke Art Gallery, Revelstoke, Canada
2020 spaces BETWEEN, Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Vancouver, Canada
2020 Thesis Studio Open House, Mazatlan Mexico
2016 Horizon Lines, Zatelier Gallery, Tunis Tunisia
2015 Urban Drawings Series, Pynelogs Cultural Centre, Invermere, Canada
2013 Urban Drawing Installation, Open Spaces Window Gallery, Calgary, Canada
2013 Urban Drawings Series, Epcor Centre Window Gallery #17 Calgary, Canada
2012 I Can’t See the Forest, Epcor Centre Window Gallery #17, Calgary, Canada
2010 Group Show, Fishmarket Studios, Calgary, Canada
2010 TallTree Series, Pynelogs Cultural Centre, Invermere, Canada
2009 Mosque, Monoprint, Leighton Arts Centre Members Juried Art Exhibit, Alberta, Canada
2006 Lucky Bamboo, Drawings, Open Studio, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2003 Espera, Drawings, Marie-France Bergerot Gallery, Luanda, Angola
2002 Spider Lilies, Drawings, Hotel Tropico Gallery, Luanda, Angola
2000 Lillies & Porcelain Roses, Galerie de l’Alliance Francaise, Luanda, Angola
1997 Inside Out, Drawings & Installation, Dartmouth Heritage Center, Dartmouth, Canada
1993 Empty, Installation, Anna Leonowens Gallery III, Halifax, Canada
Grants/awards/residencies:
2022, Empire of Dirt Residency, Creston, Canada
2018, Gushul Art Studio Residency, Blairmore, Canada
2015, Art Print Residency, Arenys del Mar, Spain
2012, Small Project Grant, Urban Drawing Project, Calgary, Canada
1990, Florence Madelaine Perry Memorial Award, Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba, Brandon,Canada
Arts Involvement
2022 -2025, Owner/Facilitator, Costa Azul Arts Studio, Mazatlan, Mexico
2013-2016, Artist Studio Rue Juba, Tunis, Tunisia
2012-2013, Instructor: Learning Through the Arts Educational Programs, Calgary, Canada
2010-2012, Member of Arts Collective: Fish Market Studios, Calgary, Alberta
2010, Volunteer, Visiting Artist, Leighton Arts Centre, Educational Programs, Alberta
2009 Instructor, Program Outreach Facilitator, Art Gallery of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
2008, Instructor & Docent: Art Gallery of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
2005-2007, Artist Studio, Tripoli, Libya
2004, Mentee: Studio Artist with Ali Salem Salmiya; Kuwait City, Kuwait
1998-2003, Artist Studio, Luanda, Angola
1997, Mentee: Women’s Artists Mentoring Program, The New Gallery, Calgary Alberta
Press/publications:
“Ties That Bind” Exhibition Catalogue, Vancouver, Canada, 2020
“Clothes make the artist” in The Chronicle Herald, Halifax, Canada February 20, 1997
Collections:
Nova Scotia Art Bank Collection, Halifax, Canada
Various national and international private collections
Contact Details:
Studio:
#4a Costa Azul
82110, Mazatlan
Mexico
Website:
Email:
n.leboutillier@aol.com
Phone +52 669 129 9819