I conceived En Route specifically for the Congrès Mondial Acadien Louisiane '99.
It is an installation composed of 27 pairs of life-size porcelain feet, cast from living models.
The molding required 4 hours of still work by each model.
I consider the models as my collaborators, integral to this project.
Like me, they are descendants of the Acadian people deported from their homeland in 1755.
To reach these Acadians and cast their feet, for the three months prior to the Congrès I worked and traveled in various places:
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Montréal, Québec; Saint-Léolin, NewBrunswick; and Lafayette, Louisiana.
In the process, my work and I were en route for the Congrès.
By casting an exact copy of their feet, I have stressed the individuality and identity of each Acadian.
Collectively, the feet symbolize the history and survival of the Acadian People.
En Route evokes those difficult times and migrations.
It celebrates Acadians and their vibrant culture today, both in Canada and in Louisiana, and symbolizes their gathering for the Congrès.
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Biographical Note:
I am an Acadian from Saint-Léolin, New Brunswick, Canada, living in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
For over 20 years, I have been a ceramist and although still committed to clay, I have been expanding into mixed media.
I honour my past and call on my ancestors to know who they were.
Socially and politically, all my life I have been part of a minority group.
The search for my place among other is part of my daily life, faced as I am with constant tension between assimilation and remaining faithful to my roots.
That constant quest guides my art work.
My interest in collaborative work has brought me to work with Acadians for my art installtion shown at the World Acadian Congress in Louisiana in 1999.
- Eveline Boudreau, Saskatoon, 1999
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