In the Quiet

In the Quiet

through the works of Eloise Dumas

In the Quiet is a vitrine that depicts the passage of tranquility. It’s an 8-piece body of work created by Montreal-based artist Eloise Dumas, characteristically guiding the viewer into the melancholy of each painting’s inherent nature. This introspection leaves the viewer to its interiority of being in the calmness of silence — to give solace to those that look upon.

One piece, Herderin Hemp Bottom, was an ode to the deep connection Eloise has formed with Herderin’s work. When Eloise first came across Herderin, she instantly felt like they were speaking the same language, following the same creative process, but through a different medium. It felt like the work and the way of life Herderin shared with the world validated her own art practice — the notion of slow living, minimalist, eco-conscious, holding the integrity of the Earth. Herderin’s raw, natural, organic materials centered in every item that is created, is paralleled through Eloise’s themes, color palette, and scenes of her own rural life depicted throughout her paintings. The Herderin Hemp Bottom collaboration for In the Quiet was driven by a sister-sense of identity, values, and an overlapping language of art communicated by both artists.

“I am willing to take a risk onto the path against the contemporary art world with my naturalistic pagan-influenced scenarios. It's a pretty lonely style in here… But I’ll always be faithful and find my place within nature and countryside identity. That’s where I belong, since the beginning. Hence, when I see Herderin’s collections, it reinforced the notion that I am on my right path, I am not alone. As if we were siblings through our work. It is a full time focus to create in my authentic image and by finding other artists that reflect a parallel vision, it helps to push our work further.” — Eloise Dumas

In the Quiet is rendered in 8 paintings, all oil on canvas. The artist took images that are her own photography except for: Sundays Are for the Dogs, from Isaac Peters and Herderin Hemp Bottom, from Alexandria Vasquez of Herderin — thus, an international collaboration. The potential of those two pieces within this body of work was a brilliant presence to support the artist theme. 

In the Quiet is a closure for active minds. In a world full of chaos, this is exactly where the viewer wants to find themself. At the threshold of the room, the artist suggests the crowd experiences a peace of mind, the paintings being an essential recall to explore the realms of silence.

Eloise Dumas (b. 1993, in Beauce-Sartigan, Quebec) lives and works at Place des Arts in Montreal. She graduated with distinction from Concordia University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting and drawing. She is a naturalistic oil painter committed to realism with scenes that are psychologically charged with stillness.

Dumas’ paintings and drawings are a visual guide of rawness from rural life.

Throughout her paintings, Dumas explores the naive daily life instances taken by her camera, often in agricultural areas. Her pictures recall the experience of sacred moments left as souvenirs. A collection of still life, portraits, figures, and objects from the land. Photography is the spine of her art process. Hence, the cornerstone of her inspiration. The artist creates a recurrence, perhaps a fixation in her colors. It is earth and soil nourishing her raw, bucolic color palette. It is aesthetically acknowledged to remain without artifice in her scenarios.

In the portrayal of her subjects, the artist attempts to minimize the composition in terms to draw more attention to empty spaces. It is a palpable sensation that everything else about her work appears to be pure memories. The presence of death often reinforces the notion of an ephemeral world of fragility. In summary, Dumas’ pieces of art refer to the gesture of reading a poem in silence.