Performance, drawing, dirt (Sainte Rose de Lima, Gatineau, Qc.). Installation Arts Walk, 100 Mile Farm, Wakefield, Quebec, August 2010.
“I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the iron’s point there seemed to be a little fire. He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart, and to pierce my very entrails; when he drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also, and to leave me all on fire with a great Love. The pain was so great, that it made me moan; and yet so surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain, that I could not wish to be rid of it…”[1]
L’Éxtase de Ste-Thérèse was a performance/drawing about my maternal grandmother, Yvonne Thérèse Michaud (1926-2005). In August 2010, I co-wrote a letter with my mother which speaks to the struggles Yvonne Thérèse faced while raising ten children alone in rural Quebec and of her lifelong battle with mental illness. As I read aloud my mother’s memories, I invited the audience to ponder the possibility of experiencing ecstasy, while simultaneously feeling pain. In the background is a drawing of Sainte Thérèse, based on Bernini’s beloved marble sculpture. My drawing is an attempt to capture this feeling or moment of pure presence and love despite deep personal struggle and pain.
Read the letter to my grandmother here.
[1] Description of Saint Teresa’s vision, inspiring Bernini’s sculpture. February 2015. Accessible at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecstasy_of_Saint_Teresa