Bernard Pugin Gauthier is a multimedia artist working within the realms of abstraction and realism. His great- great grandfather Augustus Pugin himself a famed and prolific artist of the 19th Century Britain was an architect, designer and theorist that has inspired Bernard’s art. Some of Bernard’s work shows a take on Gothic floral motifs, worked in a way that will delight the modern eye.
Bernard’s approach to his work is full of passion. He sees it with the eyes of a child, always new and inquiring, with innocence and delight in experimentation, without the confines or expectations that we put upon ourselves as we become adults. It is refreshing to encounter such freedom in an artist’s work which in turn empowers the viewer. As Bernard says, there is no right or wrong way to interpret his work. By looking at the work you discover something about the way you see. As adults we like to put things in boxes and label things as right or wrong. With this comes a great fear of being wrong, but what he hopes to show in his work is that the abstract eliminates this process and leaves the viewer with a freedom of sight. What he hopes to achieve is a balance between fantasy and reality.
This is an artist who truly lives for his art. He spends summer months operating a landscaping business which gives him the opportunity to paint during the winter months.
Bernard was born and raised in Ottawa; he studied fine arts and humanities at John Abbott College in Sainte–Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, and went on to Concordia University in Montreal to study special education, art therapy and theatre development. He currently lives in St. Eugene, Ontario.
