Martha Lenoir is a French media artist born in 1999. Passionate about drawing as a kid, she gets her hands on acrylics after moving to Canada with her mother, in 2010. She sells her first painting to her neighbors at 16, and has her first solo exhibit at 18, in a theatre's café gallery in Lyon, France, where she then studied and worked for 6 years. Now established in Toronto, she's shown her work at Le Labo Media Arts Centre, The Globe&Mail Centre for the DxC Summit, Community Living (Alexandria, ON.), and the Northern Contemporary Gallery.
With a soft spot for absurd and dreamlike visuals, Martha is influenced by the works of René Magritte and Paola Rego, and her style is for the most part surrealist, leaning on symbolism. She is fascinated by the disturbing realm of her nightmares, which are a recurrent source of inspiration, and feels very strongly about zero-waste: the majority of her mediums are repurposed items that were taken from the street and curb-sides.
Aside from painting, she works as a gallery assistant in the Distillery District, pursues her filmmaking practice by shooting a medium-length documentary about farming, and translates plays for the Théâtre français de Toronto.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

I believe there can be a story in every thing, whatever its form, but it's not so much about telling it as it is hearing or seeing it. Most times, I mean nothing by my art, it's usually not made to represent anything; however, it is fully yours to interpret. My art only exists through those who look at it: if it resonates within you, it's fulfilled its purpose.