Fine Arts

Travelling to ‘Loriville’ is a surreal, incandescent voyage

If you balled-up Frida Kahlo’s painting style, Andy Warhol’s penchant for pop culture and Betsey Johnson’s flair for all things colorful & eclectic…artist Lori Seguin would roll out into the room, all purple retro glasses, red curls and funky attire.

As Lori guided me through her process of inspiration, she candidly expressed that depression was the catalyst that got her into art.  Not formally trained, Lori took her first painting course to keep herself busy and focused on something other than recurring emotional darkness.  Lori paints, practices drums and pampers her dog Stella…not necessarily in that order.  But the purpose of my interview was not drumming or Stella (though she commanded my attention at whimsical intervals), it was Lori’s resonant, intense paintings.

Lori begins a painting by coming across an image online or in arts/fashion magazines.  She says that if the eyes, overall expression or a combination of colours strike her fancy, she’ll begin working around those elements.  But the process beyond that is left mostly up to chance, organic flow and ‘accidents’.  As she works, she encounters shapes, colours and themes that ‘fit’ and feel right.  If she’s struggling with an aspect of her painting that feels ‘boring’…she just researches patterns, wallpaper and graphic design images to incorporate into the piece.

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Her style is somewhat surrealism-meets-pop culture-meets-expressionism-meets-avant-garde.  Not remotely formulaic and processed, slick or commercial,  Lori’s art is purely about Lori and how she views things; expression, pattern, pure colour, soul…oh, and she loves David Bowie.  (She had me at hello when upon entering her apartment, a painting of Bowie immediately caught my fancy).

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What makes Lori’s art so fascinating is the complete and utter lack of convention, rules and fussy guidelines that many artists often feel confined to.  This art just emerges out of a brilliant mind, oft tortured by doleful gloom, yet somehow brightening the room and igniting a fire in the imagination of the onlooker.

I don’t think she worries about pleasing the gingham & stripe, card-carrying traditional decorator who buys art to match the Sears sofa set, either.  Lori makes art because it is a process…a way of life…a healing journey.

Despite her lack of training, Lori is deftly skilled at portraiture, finding subtle nuance in a cheekbone or facial structure beneath flesh and make-up.  Her bold brushstrokes belie a natural confidence and her use of pure, unblended colour reveals a saucy pluck that’s always just beneath the surface of her calm, sweet demeanour.

Just this year, Lori created an art page called ‘Loriville’.  Why Loriville? She says it’s an homage to her French roots (using ville instead of town), and it refers to “going to a place for a visit”.  Well, visiting her studio/apartment and chatting with her is truly like going to an other-worldly place…Loriville; Fun, bright, harmonious and unique. She also has a gallery space on Etsy called Loriville, where her work is doing well.

To check out Lori’s work, purchase a canvas or request a commission, go to; http://loriville.webs.com/

On Etsy; http://www.etsy.com/shop/loriville

It’ll be very interesting to see what she comes up with next.

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