Festival Art Souterrain
Exhibition place
Activities
Umbra, l’obscurité ou l’absence de lumière, 2024
Vinyl adhesive film, video and kinetic installation: wood, dichroic film, lights
In its original form, Umbra, l’obscurité ou l’absence de lumière is an installation composed of three monumental rotating mobiles. Their frames, whose shape recalls that of kites, are covered in a translucent film that has the ability to change color and create different reflections according to the lighting and the angles of view.
This iteration of Umbria unfolds in two places. Affixed in transparency to the bay window in the hall of Place Ville Marie, colourful shapes, recreating those of the original mobiles, are superimposed on the interior and exterior surroundings. A miniature version of the sculptures as well as a video capturing their movements, silhouettes, colors and reflections are displayed in the commercial plaza.
With this kinetic work, the artist explores the materialities of shadow and light, and their impact on our perceptions. She also evokes memories of her childhood in Sri Lanka, when she would play by the sea with kites that she had made herself.
Biography
Pavitra Wickramasinghe creates immersive environments that invite the public to engage with their environment and reflect on the relationships between nature, culture, memory and place. Her work is centred on the themes of migration, transformation and the idea of the ‘here’ as a space both physical and subjective, often using solitary imagery as a metaphor for belonging, movement and interconnectedness. Her work has been exhibited, among others, at the Grand Théâtre de Québec, the Fondation PHI pour l’art contemporain (Montreal), OBORO (Montreal), Kunst Kraft Werk (Germany), the Galerie Leonard and Bina Ellen (Montreal), the Yeosu International Art Festival (South Korea), at the Centre des arts Enghien-les-Bains (France), at Cable Factory (Finland), at the Centro Cultural del Matadero (Spain) and at Galerie B-312 (Montreal).
Special thanks to: Generique Design (Production, and technical direction). The original manifestation of the project is a co-production and co-presentation by Grand Théâtre de Québec, Avatar and Manif d’art 11 – La biennale de Québec