Originally from Quebec, Maguy CARPENTIER obtained a certificate of visual arts at the University of Québec in Montreal in 2000. She decided to further her studies and complete a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with honours, majoring in painting and drawing at Concordia University in 2003. In order to deepen her cultural and artistic knowledge, she obtained the Millennium Grant and embarked in an international exchange of one year at the University of Provence AIX-Marseille I. Since 1999, she has participated in several events and group exhibitions in both Canada and Europe.

Maguy CARPENTIER’s artistic practice exploits the theme of reminiscence. Touched by her own family’s moments of loss and grieving, she proposes links that emerge between memories that are sometimes imprecise and those from her subconscious. She is fascinated by the phenomena of ‘déjà vu’ and reconstructs her memory by using old photos of her family. In essence, she works in collaboration with her ancestors who originally took the photos and seeks to revive them in her paintings. Humanistic and familial feelings transmitted over time take place in different ways, like the inescapable filiations of ones ancestry. Internal spaces composed of fragments open the door to reminiscence, bringing to one’s memory what was once forgotten or even too present to be understood.

The artist’s creative process involves layering different mediums in the same manner one attempts to reconstruct memory. She uses photo transfers as a means to borrow identities in order to build her compositions. The graphite she uses demarks the edges of the original image which she attempts to reinterpret. The ink used represents the souls of past ancestors and the essence of family. The mediums applied come together to form a united visual network. The acrylic and oil pastel are the final layers applied, producing visual contrast while drawing importance to certain parts of the image.