Passages (English)

Julie Lassonde, A.M. Matte, 2023, artists performing Passages, mixed media

A white gallery wall with a framed photo, large black exhibition text that reads, “Passages” and appears in Anishinaabemowin, English, and French. The image on the left is vertical and is made up of three smaller photos and text laid out in a two by three grid. The images are all from the same event, two people with light skin tone possibly performing or rehearsing in a gallery space. Starting in our upper left corner the person on our left, A.M. Matte, is seated holding papers while Julie Lassonde, on our right, is bent forward, arm outstretched pointing towards our left. Next to that image on our right, a block of text reads, “Je frappe mon malaise et mon isolement sur mon Le creuset. Le fracas métallique m’emplit l’ouie, mais c’est du toucher qu’il me faut.” In the next row down, on our left side, a block of text reads, “La ville est fantôme…c’est sinister d’arriver à l’avance où personne ne nous attend.” Next to that on our right is another image, Matte is still seated head cocked while she watches Lassonde who is kneeling, arms curled up in front of them in mid swoop. In the final row on our left, Matte remains seated holding papers and looking at Lassonde who is in mid jump legs askew, their arm, on our left, is wrapped around their head, their arm, on our right, is wrapped around their stomach. Next to that on our right, the final text block reads, “On met des pansements Quand on a mal Mais des fois on a mal Sans savoir où.”

Installation Details

Passages presents an interdisciplinary and improvisational performance piece that delves into A.M. Matte’s magnetic poetry and Julie Lassonde’s repetitive movements. Combined, these art forms both flow and pass through issues of grief, resilience, and renewal experienced throughout the pandemic.

Interdisciplinary performance artist Julie Lassonde (she/they) and award-winning author and playwright A.M. Matte (she/her) are Francophone queer artists whose previous works have been supported by both the Ontario and Canada Arts Councils. Passages is their first artistic collaboration.

About the Artist

Two portrait’s side by side of A.M Matte and Julie Lassonde. On the left, A.M., a white woman with light skin, is pictured in three-quarter view, wearing an ivory jacket and purple glasses. A.M. has shoulder length, curly, brown hair and smiles with closed lips. On the right, Julie, a light skinned person, is smiling at us with an asymmetrical dark blonde haircut and a brown silk shirt.