Claudette Lemay – CUSTOM RESIDENCY
I am currently pursuing a printmaking-based art project centered around a collection of cards—playing cards, tarot cards, or others—that I have found randomly on the street (since 1996). To date, I’ve collected over a hundred. I’m drawn to their patterns, textures, weathered marks, their occasional symbolism, and also the places where I find them. I take note of coincidences, make associations, and sometimes look for meaning.
This collection explores the role of chance in our lives with a playful spirit. It unfolds over time, referencing the diary form and the everyday. Printmaking allows me to explore the image of these cards from new perspectives. I reframe, transform, and duplicate them through intaglio, photopolymer, and digital printing.
I might create a book, write poems, invent stories…
Photo credit: Katya Konioukhova
Biography
For over 25 years, Claudette Lemay has developed a body of video, audio, and photographic work. More recently, she has integrated drawing, writing, and printmaking into her practice. Her work has been shown in both solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally (Mexico, France, Finland) and has been featured in numerous festivals around the world.
In 2011, she completed a Master’s degree in Visual and Media Arts at UQAM. She is a member of the artist-run center perte de signal, the Chaufferie/coopérative Lezarts, and La Traversée – atelier de géopoétique. Originally from Quebec City, she now lives and works in Montreal.
Call for Submissions – Collective Collection of Lost Cards
Have you ever found a card—playing, tarot, or otherwise—abandoned on a sidewalk, dropped from a deck, or blown away by the wind?
That orphaned card carries a story, symbols, a mystery—fragments of a forgotten world. It has passed from hand to hand, traveled through time, and ultimately crossed your path.
What if this encounter became part of an artistic project?
I invite you to contribute to a collective collection that documents these small signs of chance in our daily lives.
How to participate:
Please send me the lost card by mail, along with a short text if possible: the date and place where you found it, an anecdote, a word or memory linked to the card, or a reflection it inspires. Let your imagination run free!
In return, I’ll send you a surprise response card! Be sure to include your postal address with your submission.
Your contribution will remain anonymous. Each card will become part of the collective collection, which will be documented on my website.
Mailing address:
L’IMPRIMERIE CENTRE D’ARTISTES
Attn: Claudette Lemay
3910, rue Sainte-Catherine Est
Montreal, QC
H1W 2G4
Canada
Crédit photo: Katya Konioukhova
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