Laurent Vaillancourt
Biography | Gallery
2011 OAC Senior Artist Grant 
My home base is Hearst, a predominately francophone town along Hwy 11 in Northeastern Ontario. I have a fascination for steel cable, rarely used as raw material. The characteristics of steel cable I like to explore are its flexibility, elegance and torque. ‘Found objects’ are also becoming an important part of my raw materials. These objects emit a message: they are artifacts with a story to tell. Travel is also part of my practice: Cent bornes/Milestones (1993) a hundred-mile walk between Hearst and Smooth Rock Falls, and The World Tour in Ontario (2002), a tour of 19 places in Ontario bearing the names of the world’s great cities. My most recent ‘road work’ Pays d’horizons (literally, Land of Horizons)(2006) led to an ‘artist book’ depicting a trip through the Maritimes. I look to toponymy, etymology, botany and geometry to stimulate my imagination and guide me in my search.