Geneviève Ruest casts her creative gaze on the human body, on its transformations and mutations from one age to another to identify the memory that makes the human being a unique and whole being. “What is this memory that is at the source of identity? By scrutinizing and thus fragmenting the body, the artist highlights the indelible traces of its genetic baggage and the marks that—secretly—have joined together to form a uniqueness.
The reality of the brain is central. The activity of thought participates in the construction and deconstruction of bodily reality to lead to the unveiling of its interiority and its functioning. The notion of identity conceived by the exploration of the body gives this work a fascinating scope.
“I trace not only the stages from which I come into contact with the reality of my body, but I also try to highlight the indelible traces of my genetic baggage and the marks which, secretly, have united with each other to make me unique.”
—Geneviève Ruest, Le Voyageur, February 9, 2005
Geneviève Ruest
Geneviève Ruest, is a Montréal based visual artist working with digital print media and installation with medical imageries. Her artistic research is centered on the human body through its transformations and mutations from generation to generation. Through imagery, she traces her genetic baggage by depicting the world beneath her skin. She is recipient of grants, awards and honours at international level and she has represented Canada in artistic events. Her work was represented in Canada in different museums and galleries as well as in Africa and Europe, in private and public collections and was the object of two short films: “Sentenced to life” and “Espace de vie –Oublies et souviens toi” by the National Film Board of Canada. She is constantly involved in artistic events as a guest artist and frequently invited as a lecturer at the University of Ottawa. She was chosen as the President of the jury in the photography discipline for the international event Games of La Francophonie (Niamey, Niger, 2005).
Artist Profile