MAHIEU LACA

Visual Operas

I’m not afraid to paint fully erect male bodies. I’m not afraid to paint masturbations, sodomies or ejaculations. All these things appeal to me so I paint them. Moreover, I glorify them by constructing large life-size visual altars for them. I’m also not afraid to show religious symbols in irreverent ways. There are so many things in this world that haven’t been painted before. I don’t want to restrain myself from representing any of them.

The unexplainable often creates strong esthetic emotions. This is why I make such use of it in my paintings. With so much going on the canvas, I’m often asked about the narratives in my works. Is there a predetermined story line? What’s the message? Well, it’s embarrassing to say in words what I have strived for years to say with images! It’s a bit as if I was disarming my own artistic grenade! That’s how I feel at least. The easy answer would be: “Look, it’s all in the work!” But very few people are satisfied with that. A work of art must almost build a kind of cocoon made of words in order to be apprehended.

I came to think that it doesn’t really matter what you paint. You just have to paint interestingly, according to your own vision. I must admit though that the bravado is an intrinsic part of what I do. It’s part of my virgin gaze, uncorrupted by commercial standpoints or by scholarly bullshit. Because I want to make paintings that reveal to the viewer something unknown about himself, I shake him up sometimes. But can art really exist without any surprising effect?

I think that every work of art, in a way, is a self-portrait of its author. So it seems only natural to me to use my own image. When I paint, I also want to discover something about myself. I want to surprise myself and to engage myself in the process. Using my body allows me to become a character in my own personal drama, to reflect upon myself. Painting is very much like keeping a journal. The only thing is that it’s made public.

I want to create visual operas of our times.

Mathieu Laca, Canada
http://www.mathieulaca.com/