À même le silence — une présence retenue


In À même le silence, Mariclair Plante unfolds a contemporary poetic abstraction where gesture does not impose itsel, it emerges. The composition is structured through a subtle balance between tension and restraint, allowing expansive light-filled areas to breathe while being traversed by denser, almost tectonic movements.
The black, incisive and organic, acts as a fragile axis around which softer passages gravitate: milky veils, stone-like tones, hints of violet, and patinated ochres. Nothing is fixed. Each mark appears to surface from within, as if rising from the depth of the canvas rather than being placed upon it.
The painting invites a fluid circulation of the gaze. The eye moves freely, guided by gestures that are at times calligraphic, at times nearly erased. This oscillation between presence and disappearance generates an inner vibration, a sense of space that is inhabited rather than filled.


Here, silence is not emptiness, it is substance. It supports, amplifies, and reveals. It becomes the very ground from which the painting emerges.
Through its controlled restraint and rich materiality, À même le silence aligns with a contemporary approach to abstraction, one that is sensitive, embodied, and deeply resonant.