Montréal-based artist Maude Corriveau explores the perceptual thresholds between surface and illusion. Working in dry pastel drawing and oil painting, Corriveau transfigures disposable and synthetic materials with particular attention paid to the effect of light on matter. Her new exhibition, “Between the Folds”, plays with the recurring motif of the curtain. Historically associated with concealment and illusion, the curtain appears here less as a symbol and more of an optical and phenomenological system.

“The paintings emerge through an iterative dialogue between physical staging, photography, generative AI, and oil painting. It is precisely within this space—between folds of different image-making techniques—that painting acts as a site of translation, slowing the velocity of synthetic images and transforming their luminous surfaces into tactile presence through successive layers of oil and exposed linen. Instead of confirming the authority of photography or artificial intelligence, painting delays the interval before certainty arrives. It constructs the conditions under which images emerge and transform—allowing perception itself to remain fluid and unresolved.”

“Between the Folds” is on display at Plato gallery September 3 – October 3.