Meet the creator
Artist · CA
Hélène Routhier is a Canadian multidisciplinary artist born in Saguenay, Québec. In 1974, she moved to Montreal, a city she describes as one of heart and passion, where she lived for fifty years. Today, she lives and works in Gaspé, surrounded by mountains, sea, rivers and the dramatic changing seasons of Québec. Before becoming an artist, Routhier worked as a clinical psychologist, with human experience at the centre of her professional life. Her encounter with painting opened a new creative dimension, followed by a fascination with printmaking. Largely self-taught while also training with established artists, she developed a multidisciplinary professional practice and is a member of RAAV. Routhier has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Québec, Japan and Bulgaria. Her works are held in public and private collections. The contrasting environments that have shaped her life—from urban Montreal to the expansive landscape of Gaspé—continue to inform her artistic sensibility and practice.
Statement
I am drawn to the journey of abstraction: the first gesture, the movement that follows, and the dialogue between what is already present on the surface and what emerges through the process of creating. I welcome the unexpected and the accidental. Rather than imposing a predetermined outcome, I allow each work to evolve through an intuitive exchange between gesture, material and discovery. Nature and the landscapes surrounding me are an inexhaustible source of inspiration. Living among the mountains, sea, rivers and changing seasons of Gaspé continually shapes my perception and creative language. For me, creating is a process of listening and responding—allowing something unexpected to emerge and, ultimately, to resonate.
