Artist Bio

Artist Hélène Poissant lives and works in Montréal and in Ulverton (Melbourne), Québec. She holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from the Université de Montréal (1987) and was a professor at Université Laval (1977–1992) and at the Université du Québec à Montréal (1995–2021). From 1992 to 1994 she was a Fulbright Fellow, teaching and conducting research on literacy at Columbia University and the City University of New York (CUNY).

Parallel to her academic career, Poissant has studied at the Visual Arts Centre and the Académie des Beaux-Arts de Montréal/ACADEM (2014–present). Her dual background in art and psychology led her, together with the Health and Society Institute (UQAM), to organize the Grand Debate “Meeting of Mental Health and the Arts” (2019), a unique gathering of academics and artists that explored, among other topics, how artistic interventions can reduce the use of psychotropic medication.

Poissant’s work has been shown annually at Circuit Étend’Art, Ulverton (2006–2011), and at the McClure Gallery (2018–2025). For three consecutive years (2010–2013) she hosted the summer residency competition “Landarts in situ” at her Bishop House Gallery. She also provided several illustrations for the book she co-authored, Ma mère et moi : Éloge de l’amour maternel (Flammarion, 2001).

Artistic Process

In my figurative artwork, I seek to push beyond “realism” toward more expressive, psychologically charged portraits. Whether I am working from live models or photographs, my goal is to draw out something more revealing—something that hints at an interior world. My use of color is often non-realistic, guided by a desire to link the subject to its surroundings and let that relationship carry psychological weight. Each series becomes a territory for painterly exploration, allowing me to turn depictions of individuals into interpretive, imaginative portraits that speak to the fragile edges of the human mind. It also addresses a confluence of questions at the heart of my inquiry: How might art engage with mental-health concerns, and how might my academic background nourish this investigation? Ultimately, my practice aims to demonstrate art’s capacity to foster knowledge and self-knowledge.

I work in a variety of media for both my figurative and abstract pieces—from pastel and colored pencils to watercolor, often combining these media on paper. My recent abstract work is strongly influenced by breaking news about world conflicts, which I reinterpret in a lyrical and colorful way. Themes of explosion and collapse recur throughout several series and can be read in two opposing senses: destruction and construction. From a formal perspective, various “objects” are arranged in more-or-less concentric patterns, with greater density toward the center of the painting, reminiscent of an atomic configuration. This patterning also appears in works focused on organic forms—such as flowers—where naturalistic geometry comes to the fore.