Inbetweenness and ambivalence are at the core of Karine Payette’s thought and practice. She translates this state of uncertainty into enigmatic stagings where subjects and everyday objects interact. These scenes and still images are a continual source of inspiration for Payette, allowing her to explore the ideas central to her practice, such as the instability of matter and the forms we live with.
Bringing together both old and recent works, L’ombre d’un doute is a key to understanding the whole of her artistic approach to date. The exhibition presents a vast and varied body of work, comprised of installations, sculptures, photos and videos. Through tableaux vivants that seem to be frozen in time, Payette explores the body’s relationship to its environment. Despite their seeming serenity, these artworks can awaken a certain sense of ambiguity in the viewer, a sense of unsettling strangeness.
L’ombre d’un doute also highlights the presence of several recurring motifs in Payette’s work: the tendency to create tension-filled worlds, a fascination with the uncanny and unsettling, and an interest in illusion.
The exhibition also features a small documentation room, presenting sketches, personal notes and artefacts.