Nathalie St-Pierre

My work unfolds around metaphors of fragility and impermanence—those of human existence, both in its intimate realm and within the greater environment. In my search for meaning, I question my own finitude. Through painting, I am able to gaze upon beauty—the beauty of the heart, and that of nature. It is a way of cultivating joy.

From the very beginning, water, ice, and snow have been at the core of my practice. The Romantic movement has often guided me, particularly in its vision of the human presence within the landscape, where nature reigns supreme. I imagine a waterfall that flows endlessly; I imagine its clarity, its power to heal, to purify, and to destroy.

On the canvas, I seek a movement that conveys this fragility—human vulnerability as reflected through ecosystems. To heighten the drama of my compositions, I turn to light, to mist, to texture. In orchestrating these forces, I am reminded that nothing is under my control, that I am no more than a grain of sand in the vast universe. It is this effervescence I wish to capture.

To dwell in the world today is, I believe, to acknowledge that nature cannot be mastered, and that at any moment it could engulf us. This desire to surrender to something greater drives me to deepen both my artistic and spiritual quest. I long for transcendence—for beauty, and for the sublime.