Beyond the Frame: A Journey from Tradition to Artistic Freedom
The evolution of Annick Létourneau’s artistic journey begins far from the studio and deep within the corridors of legal tradition. Born and raised in Montreal, Létourneau initially followed a well-worn family path into law, practicing for a decade before shifting to a career in communications. Yet, throughout these professional detours, drawing remained a constant in her life, an undercurrent too strong to ignore. Fourteen years ago, she made the conscious decision to devote herself seriously to her art, allowing her early fascination with figurative graphite work to gradually dissolve into something more exploratory. Abstraction, for her, became not just a stylistic shift but a profound act of liberation from convention, a way to relinquish rigid structure and invite the unpredictable.
Her artistic voice is distinctive not only for its content but also for its medium. Working primarily with soft pastels, Létourneau defies the expectations often associated with this material, choosing abstraction over representational work, which remains very rare among pastel artists. At a recent exhibit in Quebec City, for example, 120 artists showcased approximately 250 pieces—yet only three were abstract, two of them her own large-scale works. Pastel artists simply do not typically engage with abstraction, making Létourneau’s approach a striking exception. The subtleties and textures she coaxes from pastel elevate the medium into new expressive territory. Her process begins with a sketch—suggestive, often ephemeral—followed by a deliberate selection of colours. However, spontaneity remains an essential component, with new hues occasionally introduced during the creative process. The resulting compositions are dynamic arrangements of form and texture that resist categorization, offering instead an open invitation for interpretation.
What sets her apart is not just technical mastery but a deeper sensitivity to the emotional weight of form and contrast. Her compositions often involve groupings of shapes that possess distinct personalities, coexisting in ways that mirror human interaction, whether harmonious or tense. These visual relationships are not dictated by any specific narrative but are intended to spark personal meaning in each viewer. The autonomy she grants both her materials and her audience is central to her artistic philosophy. Her work becomes a dialogue rather than a statement, shaped as much by those who view it as by her own creative intent.
Annick Létourneau: Drawing with Light and Silence
Létourneau’s work is deeply informed by her contemplative engagement with the world around her. Natural light, in particular, plays a significant role in her creative inspiration. Whether it’s the interplay of shadows in a Roman alley or the vibrant transformation of Quebec’s autumn foliage, she is captivated by how light redefines colour, shape, and texture. This fascination translates directly into her technique, where subtle shifts in hue evoke the fleeting brilliance of sunlight at different moments of the day. Often, her pieces feature variations of the same colour in differing intensities, mimicking how light animates stillness and breathes depth into surfaces.
This sensitivity to environmental cues also manifests in her treatment of composition. Létourneau finds particular joy in arranging elements—shapes, tones, and lines—on paper in ways that mirror how one might compose a space in real life. She describes her process as a kind of spatial choreography, where every figure on the page has a role and presence, distinct from but in conversation with its neighbours. The tension or harmony between these shapes hints at human relationships, communities, and unspoken narratives. These are not literal representations, but visual poems that evoke emotion, memory, and reflection.
At the heart of this visual language is her passionate relationship with pastel itself. For Létourneau, pastel is more than just a tool; it’s a partner in discovery. Its versatility allows her to continually explore new directions and develop techniques that push its perceived limitations. The textures she achieves—some raw, others refined—add dimension to her pieces, infusing them with a physicality that almost demands tactile engagement. Her approach to pastel work is experimental and curious, always seeking to unearth fresh possibilities. Each drawing becomes a terrain of exploration where intuition and technique meet, and where the final result often surprises even the artist herself.
In Search of Respect: The Power of a Singular Work
Among the many works in Létourneau’s portfolio, one piece titled Gri-gri holds extraordinary personal significance. This drawing, almost talismanic in presence, represents a pivotal moment in her creative journey. Its creation was fraught with challenge and doubt, demanding a rare degree of persistence and emotional energy. Létourneau describes Gri-gri as a magical piece—one that continues to resonate with her long after its completion. The intensity of the process and the transformation it required have made it a symbolic artifact of perseverance and intuition.
While Gri-gri is her most intimate and powerful work, another piece, Respect, has also drawn attention for different reasons. Respect was selected for inclusion in the upcoming book 100 Emerging Artworks of 2025, published by the Arts to Hearts Project. Its title emerged from the gradual unveiling of a silhouette that felt sacred, imbued with symbolic force. Though its creation was not as arduous as Gri-gri, Respect holds its own place in Létourneau’s evolution as an artist—an example of how openness to change and trust in instinct can yield unexpected and resonant results.
Her growing recognition includes additional accolades: Gri-gri and another work, Imprints, are featured in Studio Book 6 as part of the 2025 cohort of emerging artists. This fall, Gri-gri will also appear in The Great Book of Art Makers, which features the finalists for the International Artist Award. These publications, all curated by the Arts to Hearts Project, are distributed through Amazon and bookstores across the United States, expanding her audience well beyond Canada.
By naming and identifying these specific works, Létourneau invites viewers into her process. Each piece tells part of her story—not through literal imagery, but through form, material, and mood. In both Gri-gri and Respect, we see the heart of her practice: transformation through abstraction, and the emotional resonance of a line drawn with intention.
Annick Létourneau: Sculpting Emotion Through Improvised Form
Létourneau’s daily art practice is anchored in ritual yet open to improvisation. Working from her light-filled studio in Montreal, she often has two drawings in progress at once—typically of different sizes to allow for a shift in focus and energy. Her larger works, which measure up to 33 by 44 inches, demand sustained attention and offer space for intricate textures and complex spatial arrangements. The act of beginning a new piece is both thrilling and daunting. Inspiration does not always arrive on schedule, and she speaks candidly about the uncertainty of facing a blank sheet. Her process starts with loose sketches, often intuitive, where spontaneous shapes begin to suggest a direction forward.
From this early stage, colour choices become the structural spine of the piece. While she selects a palette in advance, she allows room for change as the composition develops. This balance between planning and intuition is vital to her method. She seeks out unexpected pairings of form and texture, trusting her hand to reveal meaning before her mind fully grasps it. The technique she has developed for manipulating pastel, a process of altering or building upon its initial marks, enables her to produce uniquely tactile effects. These textures contribute to the emotive strength of her work, suggesting fragility, resilience, and everything in between.
Looking ahead, Létourneau is already immersed in preparing for her second solo exhibition, scheduled for 2026 at Gallery 203 on Green Avenue, a renowned art corridor in Montreal. This upcoming show represents both a continuation and an expansion of her artistic inquiry. The exhibition will serve as a platform to introduce new works that push further into uncharted territory, both in composition and in technique. As she prepares for this milestone, her focus remains on the studio, on sketching new ideas, and on staying attuned to the subtle cues that guide her next creation. The anticipation of each piece and the questions it may raise fuel her ongoing commitment to abstract art, driven not by answers but by the emotional resonance found in each line, shade, and texture.
