ILLARION GALLANT

BIOGRAPHY

Gallant received his BFA from Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design. Since graduation, he has won numerous large public commissions in BC. He has also been invited as a Guest Speaker in Berlin, Germany, and Queens University,Belfast, where he has given presentations on public art and landscapes. He is a member of: British Columbia Society of Landscape Architects, Canadian Society of Landscape Architects, Saskatchewan Society of Landscape Architects, and recently elected into the Sculptors Society of Canada (SSC) in 2021. His studio is based in Victoria BC.

ARTIST STATEMENT

As an Artist my most visible body of work is large scale public sculptures.  The predominant theme in this work is the continued dialogue between the landscape as natural phenomenon and as the urban fabric which characterizes historic human intervention.  The physical and cultural nuances of a locale are used to inform the ‘meaning’ of each artwork in a particular place and time.

Conceptually, my public artwork functions as a physical expression of a place marker within a locale. These markers present narratives that set up the opportunity for a relationship with each viewer at a particular time within a specific place. These place markers/public artworks are iconic in form and meaning and are integral to the outdoor space they help to define. The narratives expressed in the artworks promote dialogue coloured by metaphor, allegory and the truth of the moment and the place.  This truth can be seen as rich cultural experiences encountered through the intellectual and emotional challenges of claiming ownership of community space.