Artist Q & A: Robert Marchessault
In advance of releasing his new series, Murs Vivants, we caught up with Oro-Medonte based painter Robert Marchessault to learn more about these French-inspired 'living walls'.
A selection of these works will be included in our upcoming group exhibition, Flora & Fauna, which opens on May 7 and runs through June 1, 2026, in the Upper Gallery of our Bau-Xi | Dufferin location.
Mur Vivant IV, Oil on Panel, 48 X 48 inches, 2026
Q: For those not familiar with the term ‘Murs Vivants’, what are they and what about them fascinated you?
I spent October 2025 in France and while looking for interesting trees, I discovered the work of the French horticulturalist Patrick Blanc. He is world famous for the invention of vertical gardens ( murs végétals ). I saw these frequently in the cities I was visiting. They are massive spreads of organized green vegetation covering the walls of buildings and architectural structures. In my tree paintings I pay attention to the foliage, I saw that these vertical gardens were basically all foliage, but arranged in designs that resemble abstract paintings. In a flash I saw how I could make paintings that incorporated the ideas of Patrick Blanc. The connection to my tree paintings was direct, both subjects are vertical and both have interesting foliage. I accepted a new challenge.
Q: When looking at your work over the past 20 years, this series may seem like a departure for you on a couple levels – stylistically and compositionally. How do you see it within the pantheon of your practice?
Looking at my paintings since 1978 I see this new series as incorporating and synthesizing previous approaches to landscape painting that I've explored. My early work was expressionistic with allusions to landscapes using vigorous brushwork sitting on the surface plane. That was followed by work that became more atmospheric and spacious with sweeping deep spaces. Later these landscapes often featured a tree or copse of trees in the foreground. Then the landscapes began to simplify into sweeps of colour that suggested space without clearly defining it, and a single tree was presented front and centre. I've always been fond of foliage and I took care to find ways to paint my trees with interesting approaches to it using colour and texture. The new series, Murs Vivants, are a synthesis again. I'm keeping the vertical aspect but pushing the foliage to the foreground entirely. Like a screen of living organic texture.
Q: As with any new body of work, you are learning and discovering as you create. What were some of the initial takeaways?
I quickly realized that I did not want to get photorealistic. There are a ton of great photos of these vertical gardens online but they are not what I'm trying to get at. What I respond to when looking at these gardens in person are the energies, movements, patterns, flattening effects, textures and colours. They are living art forms designed and made by humans. I realized that I would need to gather all my painting skills and develop a technique that responded to the aforementioned elements. By trial and error I have done so. I also had to adapt my sense of composition and design to express these ideas. Interestingly, a parallel project that I've been doing with my partner, Teresa Cullen, creating lumen prints from flowers and plants grown in our gardens, provided a key visual effect that I have incorporated into the new technique.
Q: What excites you the most about this series?
It's a new vision for me. It's based on visceral experience. It incorporates my love of plants and gardening with painting, without being literal. I am able to express the pure luxuriant joy I feel using these organic patterns and textures on flat surfaces.
Q: When creating these pieces, you will clearly have an intention with ‘Murs Vivants’ – what do you hope that the viewer takes away from this work?
I hope that viewers will begin with a gestalt experience, the intellectual analysis can come after. I would like them to take a holistic perspective seeing the shapes and patterns as a complete whole rather than identifying the individual parts. Like a beautiful meal, start by smelling and tasting for the experience, then discuss the chef's magic. Since I am inspired by gardening, I hope viewers will look at these paintings as objects of beauty. We all need beauty in our lives.
Q: It may be a bit early on in the process to ask, but how do you see these works evolving over time?
Throughout my life as a painter my work has morphed. Sometimes slowly and other times suddenly. This new series will incorporate new discoveries over time. As I paint I learn what works and what doesn't. These things are added to the mix so that there is an evolution. But the basic flat patterned textured surface is probably key to the series and will remain.
Q: And lastly, we know that you are always utilizing different and unconventional tools to create. If you can divulge, is there a new tool that you are employing?
I do incorporate lots of tools that you won't necessarily find in an art supplies store. I'm always looking at objects that might work for me as painting tools. I love browsing hardware stores or junk piles. That said, this new series is not based on any new tool (though a kitchen spatula does come in handy). It does use a repurposing of simple rags and towels for the underpainting. There is also a new way of building paint layers and transparencies. I think a competent artist can probably deconstruct what I'm doing technically. However, I prefer not to explain my technique in too great detail.
The artist in his Oro-Medonte studio.