In Dialogue with Print

Claude Arsenault, In Dialogue with Print
photo credits: Jean Michel Séminaro, Paul Litherland

Claude Arsenault has set out several series of works in the gallery space, some ready to hang, others still in progress; all are waiting for the editing process necessary for installing the show. They are spread out as if she is taking inventory of all her investigations from past to present of ‘what is print?’ Mixing humour with the didactic, the works reflect the path she has taken in the ever-changing world of print media.
A life-long, conscientious teacher, Claude Arsenault has worked hard to advance a more ecological way of making prints. Her sumptuous black series, Ciel noir, ciel changeant et ciel clair, combining traditional etching with non-toxic plate lithography offers a glimpse into the evolving alchemy of how a print was once made - from its toxic beginnings with solvents to its current use of gentler ecological processes, some developed by Arsenault. A series of large, didactic, poster-like works printed on photo-polymer plates reveals her acute sense of irony and humour, and are a nod to the never-ending criticism that print media is dead, too craft-based, too technical, or worse yet, not real art.
The work, Fossils reveals in a sculptural form the traces of objects regularly used by the artist. Arsenault has asked fellow artists to contribute to this work. As objects of the past and the present, this work points to a way of working that is more collaborative.
Print media is a dance of process between hand and material, a matrix and a press. It is a timely labour of love and a challenge that Arsenault embraces!

Karen Trask
2025