The Promise, 36" x 60"

Acrylic on Canvas.

"February 27 2022, a cold and endless winter. Seasons keep their promises, they keep coming back every year and there's something reassuring about that. This is a forest/park in the eastern townships of QC where I take my dog out for walks in the snow. There’s something magical about this place, you always feel a bit lighter when you come out of the forest than going in."

Melanie Lefebvre’s work is informed by the region in which she lives, in particular the forest. The artist’s approach to her work is analytical and contemplative and her in-depth observations of her natural surroundings lead her to depict landscapes that are both detailed and romantic. The Forêt body of work explores certain connections between human beings and trees, by inspecting the emotions that bubble to the surface when walking through a forest and realizing that the soil under your feet is teeming with life. A constant cycle of renewal through seasons, under different angles of sunlight.

Each painting invites viewers to truly immerse themselves in the forest, so they can better observe, smell, hear and reconnect with it. Through the play of light and by altering the dimensions of a subject, the artist shows how you can interpret a landscape in many different ways. Thus the depiction of say, a smudge of paint, can also be viewed as a particular shape, a splash of light, a piece of textured material – harking back to the spontaneity and distorted imagery that were characteristic of the Impressionist and Expressionist movements.