by Anna Kovler

For the past six years, photographer Véronique Duplain has spent the month of February on a project that tests the limits of what the artist can achieve in one day. Transforming her home daily into an elaborate set for a new self-portrait, Duplain decorates, builds props, assembles a costume, takes the picture and edits on the same day. She paints the walls and applies wallpaper, buys furniture, and poses for the camera. With this self-imposed constraint, Duplain must work quickly and decisively. 

While exploring themes like women’s domestic roles, femininity, and expectations of beauty, Duplain positions these as obvious constructions by exaggerating their artificial nature. The artist’s own home becomes a stage, yet her performance of femininity seems so normal that we realize the home was a stage all along. This February, Duplain will execute her Selfie Project inside Arsenal Contemporary Art Montreal where she will build her sets daily. 

I spoke with Véronique to find out where her inspiration comes from and how this year’s project will be different from previous years.

Anna Kovler: How did your Selfie Project start? What made you want to do it? 

Véronique Duplain: When I began learning about photography I wanted to learn how to take portraits, how to set up the lighting and all that, but I didn't know where to start. I remember it was a Tuesday night at 9pm and I called all my friends but nobody was available to pose for me, so I decided to just shoot myself. I really enjoyed the process, and I could learn so much, and take my time. Impulsively, I decided to do it every day for a month, and that’s how it started. 

AK: How do you come up with your sets? 

VD: I get my inspiration everywhere. I might see a color scheme that I like at the grocery store and it ends up in one of my sets. Daily life is my biggest influence since my sets are mostly in my own home, so viewers are essentially entering my world. The media and modernity are also sources of inspiration for me.

 AK: Your props are really amazing. What was the most challenging prop you constructed? 

VD: Actually there was one in particular. Last year I worked on a prop that was a monster made of Post-it notes and we finished it at 5am. Three of us were working on it, and I never expected it would take that long. So this one was very challenging.

AK: Your work seems to present a critique of advertising while at the same time using the same language as advertising (using a pretty girl as the main subject). Can you talk about this double nature?

VD: Very interesting question. These are self-portraits and I’m using myself but what you see is a character, it’s not really me. I think of my character as a bit dead inside. She’s always in her own world, and I refer to her as a doll. So I’m using the language of advertising but nobody would want to be like this character, because she’s just a doll in the modern world and she doesn’t have a choice. 

AK: A recurring theme in your photos is being overwhelmed by domestic work or cooking. Do you like to cook? 

VD: I hate to cook! Funny thing is that I actually hired someone this year to make my food during the Selfie Project so I don't have to think about it. 

AK: Do you think using a bigger space will affect the results?

VD: That's also a very interesting question. Basically I always did my work in my apartment so this produces a claustrophobic effect in the photographs. It’s very small and tight, and everything is so close. Things are going to be more open now, and I’ll be able to place the lights where I want them without the limitation of the room. But the biggest difference is that it will be open to the public. People can come inside while I’m building the sets and take photos of themselves on set too. It’s about the process of taking one picture per day for one month. People don’t usually understand how much work that is, so we want to show that to the world. 

Véronique Duplain’s Selfie Project will be on view at Arsenal Contemporary Art Montreal for the month of February, 2020.