An Interview With Louise Campion
Louise Campion's artwork explores the intersection of power, personal emotions, and environmental responsibility. Her oil paintings critique the superficiality of corporate culture, while her ink drawings delve into the complexities of human experience. Committed to sustainability, she uses eco-friendly materials and techniques. Through her work, she aims to provoke thought, inspire action, and deepen our understanding of the world around us.
Can you tell us a little bit about you?
My name is Louise Campion, I am a 28 year old French artist specializing in painting and drawing but recently extending my research to writing and other mediums. I was raised between Versailles and Paris and moved to Canada in 2016. I obtained a BFA from Concordia in 2019 and have just been awarded my MFA from the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland. My current practice revolves around the exploration of awareness and emotional survival within a context of global violence.
What attracted you to the subject of the Western corporate world and its aesthetics? How do you see this subject as connected to issues of power and charisma?
My research is firstly based on personal experience: I come from a privileged, conservative and very religious background, in which the idea of success was often linked to things like diplomas, high-paying jobs, titles, properties etc. for men, and wedlock for women. Manners and presentation were also important. I grew up surrounded by people aiming for these goals. My Dad is a successful businessman in whom I find a lot of qualities and inspiring traits but also many facets I think nonsensical and quite problematic. In my work, I am talking about large scale issues: basically anything that you might be angry about toward today’s society. I’m pretty sure the people who could do something about it but don’t, look like what I paint. However, I also aspire to tackle the little things, or as we call them, the day to day micro-aggressions. By examining the aesthetics of the corporate world, I aim to question its singular vision of reality and challenging its public appeal, with a focus on the body language of power, overall, to shine a light on the pedestal we’ve been keeping our oppressors on.
Can you elaborate on the concept of "consciousness and emotional survival" within a context of global violence? How do these themes manifest in your work?
("Awareness" instead of consciousness) I don’t know about you, but I feel like I feel a lot. I feel like when I hear about someone’s emotions, a part of me embrace them, and it rubs off. It is hard to know about people’s pain. In my case, it also extends to animals, trees, past, present and future living things. As I educate myself on diverse social and environmental issues and try to act upon my capacities, I also need to learn to survive in a hyper documented world where the news cycle never stops (and is most definitely focused on the negative) before my brain explodes. Because it feels like that sometimes. Often. Like it’s gonna explode. And what good would it be? It wouldn’t help anyone. When I say “awareness and emotional survival”, I refer to the idea that, while I work hard to better myself and learn to be an ally to others, I also use my art, to learn to be an ally to myself.
How do you believe your commitment to sustainability influences the message or impact of your work?
Extremely mindful of my environmental impact, I adopted a couple of methods over the years to lower it to a minimum. I learned to build my canvases, hand-make my own paper (from recycled bed sheets for example), to mix my own paint using traditional techniques (oil, egg tempera, water- colour), recycle my solvent -inter alia. These endeavours were first and foremost sparked by a desire to limit waste. However, I recently started a research on Slow Painting as resistance, on which I partially wrote my graduate thesis. You can read an introduction to this research in ISSAY mag, published in collaboration with artist and friend Chloë Lalonde. I am currently considering editing my thesis and pursue publication, but nothing is certain. I’d be happy to email it to anyone interested though.
Can you describe the difference in approach between your oil paintings and your red ink drawings? How do the two complement each other?
My series of drawings is really personal, contrasting with my usual painting work which I approach with a professional contemporary artist mindset. Using paper that I made myself, I began in 2020 a diaristic approach to drawing, as a slower, less pressured process. The aim of this research was to reconnect to the idea of spontaneity within the creative process, and to take a step back from deep conceptual dialectic. Also, simply, to allow myself to care, which my men in suits didn’t really provide since they are more about challenging the status quo in their main concept, well, my professional practice, which comes with pressure. My drawings used to be in the background of my painting practice, as a “hobby” where I allowed myself to ignore what I knew of the art world and its mechanisms, displaying my personal feelings at the forefront of the work in a simple production system. With time and through my MFA, I learned to appreciate them as a legitimate part of my artistic practice, not just a side “hobby”. Having varied projects and approaches was valid, pertinent, as they help to contextualize each other. I definitely explored this idea further in my thesis as well.
Are there any specific themes or subjects you're interested in exploring in the future?
In the last few years, writing has slowly taken a deeper role in my practice, as maybe a different process, approach and tool to research and express. I am finding myself enjoying it more and more while gradually building confidence in it. I would love to publish an artist book and a few papers. Curating is also something that I really enjoy and would like to pursue further, especially at a professional level. As community building is something I value enormously. Last but not least, I am trying to find ways to expend my artistic practice to new mediums. I have a music project in the back of my head for example, but nothing is fixed! Who knows?
Did you always know you wanted to be an artist, or did your passion develop over time?
Yes pretty much. Although as a kid, you don’t really know what “being an artist means”, especially on a professional scale. I started art and painting classes at 6 and never stopped. I took Art History at school at 13, visited my first modern art museum at 14, and then was totally hooked. Coming from where I come from, I went through the usual phases of wondering if design, visual communications, or even fashion would be “better” (as they are more comprehensible jobs), but it never lasted long: my true passion was contemporary art, and I just wanted to be a part of this conversation.
What inspires you to keep creating? Is there a specific artist or movement you admire?
I find inspiration in the things all around me. Yes I see a lot of art, and I love it, but you can find things to admire in the most mundane encounters or the furthest fields. I keep making art because I don’t believe I could be satisfied doing anything else, therefore I must make it work. Art is how I see, how I feel, and what stimulates me the most, in all parts of my life. I am lucky to be surrounded by passionate and driven people as well as tons of cultural curiosities, and this is what brings me happiness.
What is your favourite book or film and why?
Argh I hate making these types of list, there are too many great works around here and I couldn’t choose without more specifics included in the question. Some would find it funny though, that when I paint I put two different movies in the background : Either Pride and Prejudice (the one from 2005 with Keira Knightley), or Princess Diaries 2. And when I draw, it is usually Nothing Hill. I don’t believe they’re my favourites, but I must have listened to them a thousand times.
Are you working on any projects you are particularly excited about?
Right now, I just graduated from my MFA and moved back to Canada from Scotland. I have also been dealing with some severe health issues in the last two years, so right now I am focused on setting back in Montreal, finding a job, installing my studio, getting better, and getting back to painting. Pretty big projects haha! Although, I want to start a series of smaller works (maybe 2 x 3 ft) on linen instead of canvas and am very looking forward to discover this new support.