"The first step is very spontaneous but then I try different things because I have to make sure the design is the right one. Since it's so time-consuming, I want to know when I start a work that I'm going to like it... enough to finish it."
Marcel Marois, CBC 2008
Using the technique perfected in France hundreds of years ago, Marcel Marois of Quebec City honours the tradition of presenting paradoxical and challenging images in his tapestries.
Since 1975, Marois has created both large and small works, some taking a year to produce. The allegories that he presents are often based on images of news photographs. In his work there are many layers of images and fragments of text bounded by or flowing through geometric forms.
Through this technique, Marois deliberately contrasts the instant and ephemeral nature of taking or watching the news bite with the lengthy process and permanent nature of tapestry.
Since graduating from the École des Beaux-arts de Québec in 1971, Marcel Marois has pursued parallel careers creating tapestries in his workshop, teaching weaving, painting and drawing at the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi, serving on juries, attending symposia and giving workshops.
Marois has taken part in the most prestigious international tapestry exhibitions and is represented in many public and private collections and has taken part in numerous films on his art.
Selected works
