We were lucky to catch up with Gaetanne Lavoie recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Gaetanne, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you’ve thought about whether to sign with an agent or manager?

I was living in NYC and had recently graduated from the New York Academy of Art. I’m a Canadian and was living in the US on student Visa’s and was in the process of submitting an application for an artist’s Visa (O1). My lawyers had also suggested that I look for employment as a back up. That way we would apply for a working Visa (H1) and I could continue to live in NYC, gain an income and build my portfolio. With the H1 I would have more time to develop my career as an artist and potentially have a stronger application for the artist’s Visa at a later date.

I put together a working CV (which is different than an artist’s resume) and started submitting everywhere, schools, art centres, galleries, etc. The clock was ticking and I wasn’t getting any responses, so I decided to do what every fine art professional, teacher and mentor told me not to do and go into establishments IRL and hand over my CV to whomever would take it.

For weeks I’d take 10’s of resumes throughout the city and walk in to fine art organizations, ask if they were hiring and when they inevitably said no, I’d ask if I could leave my CV with them anyway. I was not treated with high regard and often met with an annoyed scowl. I’m sure most establishments threw my CV away as soon as I left the premises but I didn’t care. I had nothing to loose and everything to gain.

One Sunday afternoon, a friend of mine asked me to hang out and I told him that I was headed to Chelsea to continue to drop of resumes and asked it he wanted to join. I’d have the company of a good friend throughout my treacherous trek into rejection land and we could enjoy the art along the way and maybe grab a bite to eat and laugh about the whole experience afterwards. He agreed to join me, saying that he was also curious as to how I was going about doing this. Unbeknownst to the both of us (which was really dumb on our part, because we were both artists who’d been living in NYC for the better part of three years and should have known this little piece of information) Chelsea is closed on Sundays. Not one gallery was open. “Oh well”, I said, “Let’s just walk around and I’ll slip my CV under every door that has space.” So that’s what we did. Street after street, gallery after gallery, I checked to see if they had a mailbox slot or a gap under the door big enough to slide my CV through. Most did not, but some did. At the end of the day we had a great walk with fun conversation and did indeed grab that bite afterwards, copping a squat on a step to enjoy the sunshine as we talked shop and mused ways to get our art out into the world.

About one week later I received a phone call from Michel Vandenplant, the director at Stricoff Gallery. He received my CV that I stealthy slid under their gallery door. He told me that unfortunately they didn’t have any job openings, but that he had looked at my website and was interested in having a studio visit. My heart leapt out of my body, I was over the moon. As an artist living in NYC, I think the ultimate dream is to be represented by a gallery in Chelsea. A few weeks later I exhibited my first piece with them and consequently it sold and we signed our contract not long after, which was a defining factor in acquiring my artist’s Visa.

Lesson learned: do what your gut tells you. If someone tells you you can’t do something, think again. What they are telling you not to do might just be the defining factor in gaining exactly what you want and at the end of the day, what do you have to loose?

Gaetanne, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

How did I get into my industry.

I was six years old when I started drawing and by the time I had to choose an area of study for College I knew that I wanted to be an artist. I started by going to undergrad for art, graduated, took three years to try to be a professional and realized my work wasn’t quite up to par. I decided to go back to school to get my Masters in Painting. I moved to San Francisco and lived and studied there for 4 years, graduated, moved to Montreal for another 3 years and felt like I needed more education to bring my work to the next level. I found the New York Academy of Art and thought it was the best place that could provide me what I needed in regard to my work and in a city that I always dreamed of living in that had a plethora of opportunities for artists. NYC at the time was a place where it was possible to be an artist and live, survive, even thrive.

My intention with my work has always been to describe the trials of the human condition in relation to seeking higher consciousness. My hope with my work is that the viewer can connect to the pictures intrinsically. I hope that their experience with my work, at the very least, triggers some kind of emotional reaction and that they leave with a lasting impression.

I love humans. I love people. I love learning about people. I love transmuting what might be seen as flaws or defects into moments of possibility and enlightenment. Human beings are some of the most interesting beings on the planet and I’m fascinated with what we are and what we could be and that is what I attempt to portray with every picture.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is waking up every day and doing what I love. When I am in a place where I have the means to create regularly my soul feels at peace. I hold a contentment and happiness in my body that feels like home. When that kind of creativity is active in my daily life, life feels seamless, natural, like it’s supposed to feel. Trials and tribulations are easier to deal with, relationships are healthier, every day is met with an ease that can only be described as living in the perpetual present, one day at a time, one step in front of the other. Simultaneously experiencing and witnessing creation start to finish.

When I was living in my shitty little apartment at 91st and Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, I’d be painting every day. I was a smoker and would take a smoke break every few hours where I would put my headphones on and walk down to Riverside park, cop a squat on a park bench, light up a cigarette and sing badly to whatever tune was playing though my headphones. I didn’t have everything I desired, but I was happy. I allowed life to flow. I was working and passionate about what I was creating and was able to create every day and that is the most rewarding aspect of being an artist.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Something that some non-creatives have struggled to understand about my journey is that it isn’t linear. When I’m most satisfied, most creative and also most successful, I am following the beat of my own drum. It is against the flow of society but flowing with the tide of the universal energy life force that is guiding me. It can be terrifying to go against social grains and so if you are a non-creative who has a creative in their life, do your loved one a favour and try to support them, rather than judge and criticize. Most creatives need just a little encouragement from the people they care about most to get that nudge to succeed.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.gaetannelavoieart.com
• Instagram: Gaetanne.Lavoie.Art
• Facebook: Gaetanne Lavoie

Image Credits
They are all my images