SÉGUIN, Jean-Pierre (1951)

Jean-Pierre Séguin holds a BFA (1975) and an MFA (1979) and is a former professor in the department of arts and letters at the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (1979-2011). He has received the Prix de la Biennale du Québec, the Saidye Bronfman Award (1979) and the Prix de la Biennale du dessin, de l’estampe et du papier au Québec (1989). In his work, he uses unique motifs, materials and techniques to create unusual portraits: starting with an initial photograph of a well-known artist, he transforms the digital copy into a kind of puzzle, choosing only the fragments he wishes to use for the final image. He then adds relief to the portrait, usually in the form of thousands of custom-made buttons provided by Canadian Buttons Ltd. Regardless of the quantity or type of material he incorporates, his portraits are at once two- and three-dimensional, exploring a shift in attention from the subject to visual perception.