Skip to main content

Kesso Saulnier

Histoires Fil’tisses 

Kesso Saulnier, Patchwork disloqué de rouge, 2019, Photo credit: G. Laumord

Exhibition Description

Histoires Fil'tisses (String’weave Stories) explores my bond with my children and my various experiences of motherhood. I relate births, moments of grace, loss and grief, post-partum emotions, and the various metamorphoses of my body. The series sheds light on my daily life, giving voice to an experience too often relegated to the shadows. The works, made from sketches reworked directly with thread, are inspired by the blues and jazz songs of Billie Holiday and Nina Simone. Histoires Fil'tisses is a response to Histoires Mè'tisses (presented at FIL: Festival international de la littérature in September 2023), a series that explores my connection to my biological mother and my native country (Guinea) through stories woven from poems and embroidery on indigo fabric.

About the Artist

Kesso Saulnier is an artist and poet of Guinean and Quebecois origins, whose work combines text, textiles and drawing. She sees her practice as a way of mending the holes and cracks in her history, generating new memories. She has exhibited her work and completed artist residencies in Quebec and abroad (Centre Canadien d'Architecture, CICA Museum, The Studios at MASS MoCA, Galerie FOFA, CIRCA Art Actuel, La Centrale Galerie Powerhouse, Spazio eLaSTiCo, ARTCH 2022). In 2021, she embroidered illustrations for the book Ensemble nous voyageons, written by Lula Carballo and Catherine Anne Laranjo, published by Editions Dent-de-lion. Her poems and embroideries will be presented at FIL (Festival international de la littérature) in autumn 2023.

Acknowledgements

The artist is grateful for the support of the Doctorate in Arts Studies and Practice (DÉPA) from the Université du Québec à Montréal and would like to extend their thanks to Artch for the financial support towards the making of the work. 

Back to top

© Concordia University