Explore Rediscoveries at the Yukon Artists @ Work Gallery
“These paintings were rolled up and stored for years, I created them during my visual arts studies in Montreal, between 2007 and 2011.”
Marie-Hélène Comeau
Yukon Artists @ Work Gallery is hosting a striking and deeply personal exhibition by long-time Yukon resident and artist Marie-Hélène Comeau. Titled Rediscoveries, the show brings to light a series of large-scale acrylic paintings created nearly two decades ago—works that have never before been exhibited in the territory.
“These paintings were rolled up and stored for years,” Comeau explains. “I created them during my visual arts studies in Montreal, between 2007 and 2011. It’s quite emotional to revisit them now. I realized they already held the aesthetic elements and identity questions that still define my work today.”
The vibrant, physical canvases offer viewers a rare glimpse into the early stages of Comeau’s transformation from hobbyist to full-time artist. Originally from Montreal, Comeau moved to the Yukon in 1992 after completing a degree in anthropology. She first worked in Yukon schools supporting French-language education, then spent years as a journalist for the French-language newspaper L’Aurore boréale.
But painting quietly grew in importance. “I started painting as a hobby,” she says. “It kept growing—art shows, school workshops—until one day, I decided I needed a change. I was almost forty, and in 2007, I went back to school full-time to study art.”
That year, a pivotal one for Comeau, saw her win a Northwestel contest, earning her artwork a place on the cover of the Yukon phone book. But more importantly, it marked the beginning of a new chapter.
“I was stuck in a comfort zone—always painting musicians in Yukon landscapes. I wanted freedom. That’s why I left everything and went to Montreal to study art. I needed to paint differently,” she recalls.
During her certificate and BFA studies, Comeau had access to expansive studio spaces that encouraged large-scale experimentation. “Some canvases aren’t even cut straight,” she says, laughing. “Nothing is framed. I used acrylic and just explored. The intention was to give myself freedom.”
Though painted in the urban backdrop of Montreal, the works hint at the inner conflict of place and belonging. “Looking at them today, I see that my identity exploration has already started. I was beginning to ask ‘Where do I belong—Montreal or the Yukon?’”
Comeau would go on to complete a PhD in Études et pratiques des arts at Université du Québec à Montréal, where she studied Franco-Yukonnais identity through art. “Those questions that started to emerge in 2007 became the foundation for my doctoral research,” she explains. “Through painting, I began to understand how identity is shaped in the space between where we come from and where we choose to live.”
With Rediscoveries, Comeau invites Yukoners to walk with her through the origins of that journey. “This show allows me to share that moment in my life,” she says, “and how my way of painting—and seeing—has changed ever since.”
The Yukon Artists @ Work Gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with extended hours on the first Friday of every month. Special Sunday openings are also scheduled for July 6, 13 and 20.
For those who have followed Comeau’s work over the years—or those just discovering her—it’s a rare opportunity to experience the roots of a creative path still unfolding.
As Comeau puts it, “It’s a reflection that stands at the intersection of past and present, between my place of origin and my northern place of residence.”
Rediscoveries will run until Aug. 31, at the Yukon Artists @ Work Gallery on 4th Avenue and Wood Street in Whitehorse.
