Danielle Sauvé is a Quebec-born sculptor and installation artist, based in Boston area since 2001. Her work engages material and phenomenological conditions in a wide array of media. The installations incorporate a variety of medium to create open-ended reflection touching on aspects of the artist’s experiences and the idea of displacement. Her recent sculptures refer to the production of functional or useful goods, considering the craft and the place they occupy in our era. She received her BA in Visual Arts from Laval University, Quebec, and her MFA from Concordia University, Montreal.
Danielle’s work has been exhibited widely in galleries and museums throughout Canada, the USA, as well as internationally. Her work was included in several group exhibitions and events, among those The Origin of Things and Les temps chauds organized by the Contemporary Art Museum of Montreal and Anninovanta, an international exhibition curated by Renato Barilli in Italy. She has created permanent public art installations and, has pieces in the permanent collections of several Canadian museums. Danielle is teaching sculpture and ceramics at the Boston University School of Visual Arts since 2010.
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Artwork description
In the entrance hall, which overlooks a splendid view of Lake Saint-Louis, the artwork frames and arranges a series of focal points that reveal fragments of the landscape. Like a multitude of curious eyes piercing the opaque and enigmatic aspects of the world, the sculpture seeks to metaphorically crystallize the desire to see and to (re)discover.
Upon entering, *Portrait Carrefour* presents a vertical copper panel whose outer contour might evoke the schematic shape of a head or a vase enlarged to reach the approximate height of an adult. Small porthole-like openings are evenly spaced across this slightly curved, enveloping surface. Each one frames the narrowest part of a conical tube oriented toward the windows, inviting a play of the gaze and a rediscovery of the surrounding natural landscape. Then, heading toward the library or the cultural center, one will notice the substantial thickness of the wooden structure. A mysterious vessel reminiscent of an alchemical flask, within which the wonders of the world unfold and which might hold the secret to metamorphosis. Do not the knowledge and stories conveyed to us through books possess this subtle power to transform us?
The work marks the transition, in the heart of a public space, toward an intimate activity: browsing and reading. The reference to this more private world is conveyed through the lines etched into the copper in photogravures that, in their format and style, may evoke illustrations from books, newspapers, and magazines. As viewers approach the curved wooden form, they will discover conical openings revealing sketches of landscape fragments. The selection of these images was inspired by a collection of testimonies from the people who shaped Dorval’s history. Among them are a fragment of sky, the treetops of a grove, the rippling surface of a stream, and a riverbank where a fort stands—as envisioned by Dorval’s first mayor, Désiré Girouard. The invention of this structure—which no one seems to have ever seen—is a small historical mystery. It is interesting in itself as a metaphor for desire and the imagination, a fusion of documentary narrative and fiction.
** Description excerpted from the presentation document for the competition on the integration of artworks into architecture and the environment.
Technical consultants and manufacturers:
• Copper forming: Louis Barrette
• Copper printing and photogravure process: Juliana Joss, Atelier Graff
• Stonework, transportation, and installation of the artwork: Atelier Formaviva
• Construction of the cherry wood form: Gilles Fauquembergue
• Wood and copper patina: Danielle Sauvé