34°08′05″N, 116°18′42″W, Altitude: 2,758 ft – a site-responsive installation presented at BoxoPROJECTS, Joshua Tree, California, USA.

During her residency at BoxoPROJECTS, painter Marion Landry immersed herself in an exploration of light, space, and sensory experience. Through extensive embodied research, including daily walks and careful observation of wildlife and sky conditions, Landry developed an acute awareness of the Mojave desert’s distinctive characteristics present at the BoxoPROJECTS site. Her process involved creating a sensorial mood board composed of photo documentation, voice notes, color palettes, and small scale oil on paper. 

Four central themes emerged to guide her body of paintings: “slow coming” (the desert landscape’s subtle details, which require patience to notice), the vastness of the sky, the notion of time, and light absorption and shimmering effects. 

The resulting body of work includes several distinct series. Inspired by 2×2-inch wire mesh fence on the BoxoPROJECTS property, Landry incorporated grid structures as a foundational element in her geometric patterns. She started with a collection of 11×14″ oil paintings on paper that investigate composition, color, and paint finishes. She also created a “Sky Series” of four 40×36″ paintings that serve as windows into different times of day. The “Hommage aux créosotes” series is comprised of five paintings, which reflect on the mesmerizing shimmer of creosote seed pods observed during dawn and dusk.

Landry’s residency culminated in a site-responsive installation that examined the intricate relationship between light, space, and the senses. The installation, which included both outdoor and indoor spaces, was designed to invite viewers to engage with the site landscape’s subtle qualities and contemplate the role of light as both subject and material in painting.

Additional documentation of her experience at BoxoPROJECTS, including sound notes and a time lapse video of her painting process, can be found here.

Artist Bio
Marion Landry creates site-adjusted installations that use light, temperature, and traditional painting techniques to immerse viewers in a sensory experience. Her art practice is grounded in a phenomenological approach prioritizing the embodied experience of painting. Landry’s career as a 3D architecture visualization specialist informs how she observes, organizes, and translates the pictorial plane. She obtained her BFA and MFA from Emily Carr University of Art + Design and has exhibited internationally since 1999. Landry is a Francophone originally from Montreal and currently lives and works on the ancestral and unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations in Vancouver.

Artist website: Marion Landry