About the Exhibition

Jacinthe Loranger: I am the one, Orgasmatron – exhibition essay by Stacey Watson

Jacinthe Loranger’s work may be psychedelic but it is also firmly grounded in the labours of putting together a silkscreen print. Her artistic practice has taken her down the rabbit- hole; viewers can follow her trail through investigations into installation, performance, photography and collage. However, there is always the print. Popping up again and again, there they are: finely crafted serigraphs.

Every piece Jacinthe completes is like the crescendo. There are no dull moments; collisions abound. Hers is a floating world of absurd cartoons groping grotesque props to a soundtrack of heavy metal. But for all this manic energy, she writes with balanced clarity about her work. She says, ” In opposition to the banality of everyday life, my work offers a luminous, unhinged alternative world in which every excess is a blissful celebration” (artist statement Loranger 2011). Based in Montreal, Jacinthe has travelled to present her work in many locations and incarnations. This time in Calgary she will exhibit / am the one, Orgasmatron at the Artist Proof Gallery. In this work the viewer will experience the blissful celebration going terribly awry when violence breaks out on a mythic quest.

I am the one, Orgasmatron presents a series of action-packed collages. Each one is like a landscape from an eighties computer game, complete with a challenge, ominous signs and odd characters. The title refers to a song by Motorhead, one that lyrically rebels against organized religion and politics. Jacinthe’s work plays not so much upon the themes of protest but upon the culture of heavy metal, the goth good times of basement-bedroom posters, head-banging concerts and ripped t-shirts. There is the obligatory skull and candle, the Ouija board, the knight and sword; it’s all a pretty fun party. The action is definitely playful, which is a natural extension from Jacinthe’s previous work role-playing in performance with props and prints.

The scenes are built up using multiple layers of printed shapes driven into formation by hand-cut collage work. The resulting flatness of the colours and choppy-ness of the forms appeals to the naivety of the pieces. It is all at the service of underlying sense of humour; these are hilarious works. The figures and shapes almost ask to be played with, like on a felt-board in an elementary school, they are ready to be moved around; the hand over the Ouija board, the swinging mace.

However, Jacinthe is not fumbling around. These are skillful demonstrations of silkscreen. Hot colours are laid down with nonchalance and patterns are scattered with ease and decisiveness. It is really Jacinthe’s mastery over silkscreen as a process that creates the framework supporting all of her work. There is confidence underlying the experimentation and skillfulness directing the play. Therefore the viewer never gets lost while following on the heels of this artist through all her wild wanderings.