IN KEEPING WITH MYSELF
ANNIE FRANCE NOËL
Ripped inkjet prints on Arches paper, 81.28 × 101.6 cm (32 × 40 inches)
Ripped inkjet prints on Arches paper and grease pencil, 81.28 × 101.6 cm (32 × 40 inches)
Annie France Noël is a queer Acadian visual artist and cultural worker from Moncton. In her practice, she seeks to shed light on the intimate and vulnerable aspects of the human experience, using various photographic and interdisciplinary approaches. In her recent work, which is guided by her own lived experiences, Noël deconstructs the difficult, hidden and ambivalent emotions of parenthood, through self-portraiture, staging and data processing.
Noël’s diptych works Blues and Tender are part of Les Baby Blues: Nutri, an ongoing series in which she explores hidden emotions of postpartum parenthood. Her work balances intimacy, vulnerability and the often painful way our bodies can fail us. Millilitre marks and ripped images recall frantic data research, while the healing sage placed over her own body brings the data to a personal level. Her empty hands gesture towards the camera, giving nothing yet asking for something, reminding the viewer of the balance between self-care and care for others.