Anne-Marie Sirois

OBJETS EN FER
04.01–05.09.1999

Anne-Marie Sirois evokes a familiar yet strange world when she creates her composite and rather humorous objects. A world where things, though familiar to us, cannot be reduced to the functions for which they are usually intended. As worthy heirs to Surrealism, the irons on display here bear witness to multiple twists and turns that reflect a bringing together of things—which Paul Éluard considered the mission of poetry: to systematically reunite what seemed forever separated. Most often dualistic, these objects rely on a relationship of opposition that brings to mind the famous encounter between the umbrella and the sewing machine on the dissection table and capitalizes on the greatest disparity between their respective forms and materialities. Transformed into characters, or revealing—in the form of a rebus—the metaphor of an object, these sculptures reveal, through their whimsical reconfiguration, a wandering animism. Nothing here seems to have been removed; rather, the works arise from additions to the iron’s volume—which remains constant—suggesting that its multiple incarnations constitute a challenge to the representation of the narrow perspective of still life and a certain minimalism. This body of work presents itself with simplicity, immediacy, and without embellishment. It demonstrates a keen sense of balance, skillfully infusing a touch of spontaneity into a formal language drawn from everyday life—a life that would at times lack depth were it not for the artist’s intervention.