Client: La Maison Simons

Location: Gatineau, Qc, Canada

Completion date: 2015

Artwork budget: $112,000

Project Team

Artist

Julie Tremblay

Architect

Katrine Beaudry

Lemay Michaud Architects

Industry Resource

Sebastien Dallaire

Générique Design

Overview

Spray painted, aluminum mesh sculpture with tubular aluminum supports. The sculpture is about 60 feet long by 8 feet high and 10 feet wide. It was installed in a 74 foot long skylight in the center of a sleek 80000 sf store.

Goals

The client is an art and architecture lover and wants art integrated in all his stores. The goal is to create a unique environment that distinguishes itself from all other stores. I was approached before the building started and collaborated closely with the architects as to maximize the impact that the artwork would have in the store. Much focus was put on the integration of the artwork.

Process

I was approached by Lemay Michaud Architects in Quebec. They liked the lightness and scale of my work. The space where the sculpture was going to be was already designed but not built. They told me they could make changes in order to accommodate the needs of the piece. It was the first time I was making a piece in a constrained space. I made a foamcore model of that section of store with the skylight and made a sculpture to scale. That helped me decide the shape of the supports, which were designed by Generique Design in Montreal. They helped me determine the anchoring points for the sculpture. Everyone was a little nervous because it was a very complex organic sculpture and everyone is more used to working with fabricated sculptures of set dimensions. But once we started installing I found out I had made all the right decisions, the most important being to leave myself some flexibility as to adjust to the site.