Jacques Payette: An Intimate Exploration of Elegance and Memory

"Jacques Payette's paintings exude a dreamlike atmosphere, where time seems suspended. His still lifes, particularly those depicting corsets and vases, transcend their mere appearance to become symbols of memory and intimacy."

Critique d’art, Monique Duquette 1998

Jacques Payette (b. 1951, Montreal) is a celebrated Canadian painter renowned for his mastery of encaustic painting, a technique that blends pigments with hot wax to create richly textured and luminous works. Self-taught, Payette has built a prolific career since the 1970s, exhibiting widely across Canada and internationally. His work, which often explores themes of memory, emotion, and the metaphysical, is housed in prestigious collections, including the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec and the Musée d'art de Joliette.

The Corsets Series is a compelling example of Payette’s unique ability to transform everyday objects into profound artistic narratives. In this body of work, the corset becomes more than a historical garment—it is a powerful symbol of transformation, memory, and femininity.

Payette’s encaustic technique imbues the corsets with a tactile, almost sculptural quality, evoking both the softness of fabric and the weight of history. His delicate, muted palette—featuring tones of ivory, beige, and gray—adds a nostalgic atmosphere, making each painting feel like a fragment of a forgotten story. The absence of the human form within the corsets heightens the sense of mystery and opens space for the viewer’s interpretation.

Through this series, Payette honors the complexity of femininity, balancing themes of elegance and constraint, presence and absence. The Corsets Series stands as a testament to Payette’s mastery of technique and his ability to weave memory, history, and artistic innovation into works that resonate deeply with contemporary audiences.