Thinking of colour through textiles

Category: HOME DECOR

Country: Canada

Valérie Gobeil explores tufting and embroidery to showcase colour in its purest form

By Fringe Arts @ Olivia Johnson 
Published 22nd February, 2025.

The focus of Valérie Gobeil’s work is colour. The composition of abstract shapes and textures is there to bring out the hues and shades of her work. 

“I am always thinking about colour,” Gobeil said. “I ask myself, ‘How can I show colour? How can we think about colour without thinking about anything else?’”

Gobeil fell in love with textile arts at a young age. Many of her family members were seamstresses who made clothing. They experimented with yarns and other textiles during the evenings and weekends.

Gobeil’s current exhibit, Penser la Couleur, is on display at the Maison de la culture in Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie. Eight additional pieces, designed so visitors could touch and interact with the art, are also on display at the Marc-Favreau Public Library.

Catherine Ruel, cultural mediator at the Maison de la culture, explained that many women who have visited the exhibit asked about the technique.

“They talk about themselves or their mothers crocheting a carpet or other textile,” Ruel said. “It’s a link between tradition.”

Gobeil is a Montreal-based textile artist who uses a technique known as tufting, a weaving method often used to create rugs, cushions, bags and other garments. The process involves using a tufting gun to punch yarn through a fabric or canvas backing. 

“The first thing people realize when they visit the exhibit is the colour,” said Malina Fürhoff, the receptionist at the Maison de la culture. “With the sun, it looks like disco balls on the floor. In January and winter, it brings something luminous.”

Gobeil completed a bachelor's degree in visual and media arts at the University du Québec à Montréal in 2008 and her Master of Arts at UQAM in 2013.

“When I was studying in fine arts later, I remember painting, but wanted to paint with fibre or textile or use something else,” Gobeil said.

Many of Gobeil’s professors discouraged her use of textiles, instead suggesting that she stick with painting. It wasn’t until she began studying at Les Beaux-Arts De Marseille college in 2008 that she found the freedom to play with other artistic techniques.

“I never follow rules, so I won't ever use something like you're supposed to do,” Gobeil said. “But I found the thread very interesting because it's a thread that you have to pull apart. Then it becomes very bouncy and very curly.”

In contrast to the large textile pieces that decorate the wall, the series “Cultures” contains around 60 smaller embroidered works. She uses bunka shi shu, a form of Japanese embroidery that originated in the early 19th century. Using organza, thread and Petri dishes, the artist created a series of images inspired by cells.

Gobeil explained that she prefers to work with abstract shapes. Her pieces aren’t illustrative and don’t represent a specific image or idea. Instead, the colour, texture and material are the main focus. 

“It's the colours that make this shape, and not the shape that makes the colour,” Gobeil said.

Penser la Couleur will be on display until March 9. 

Courtesy: thelinknewspaper.ca