The paintings and drawings of French-Canadian artist Sylvie Lambert reflect the sometimes absurd notions of nature inherent in our society. Like wordplay, Lambert’s compositions combine improbable elements to create surreal narratives with messages rooted in reality. Informed by her personal experience, first in Canada where she grew up, and then in Switzerland, she addresses subjects that touch on habitat, humanity, and artificial and disfigured nature, themes all painted with a flamboyant chromatic range. In this imaginary world, the boundaries between reality, fantasy and fiction intertwine. Art Vista Magazine spoke to Sylvie Lambert during her first solo show at GOWEN, Geneva about the complexity of simplicity, fake reality, magnolia leaves and trusting intuition.

Art Vista Magazine: I wanted to ask you about the title of the show: “What is Really Matter” . You have said in the past that “In the end, I paint what really matters, the living through life embodied in matter”. I was surprised that the title wasn’t “What Really Matters” but the title seems to be a play on words where you are also referencing matter itself, like the material world. Could you explain the title?

Sylvie Lambert: I place a lot of emphasis on titles and words because for me painting is like creating a sentence or a phrase. My first painting for this show was about visual languages, and I put importance on the symbolic meaning of words. For me, it is really interesting that, in English, matters could be the materials, but also the importance of something. So “What is Really Matter” is about what is really important and also references the artistic materials I use. In my painting this gives another point of view or another way of seeing things. 

This exhibition is about a year that I passed through during which two of my friends died and my mother is sick with Alzheimer’s. It was about working in my studio while living through some extremely strong emotions. I think this vibration is in these paintings because they are about what really matters to me. 

AVM: I noticed that you often play with words in the titles of your pieces, for example “State of blues” could be interpreted in several ways. Could you expand on that element?

SL: I see my painting as a sentence, and I am also a dyslexic person. Sometimes I mix up expressions or I change one word and it totally changes the meaning of a sentence. My painting reflects that because I see the perspective of different layers of meaning where they all interact with each other, and sometimes more emphasis is on the background or the middle ground, or the texture of one element, as you can do with words in a sentence. I also try to translate ideas into images. Images are stronger than words because they are more intuitive. One just feels them.

AVM: I wanted to ask you about how your background informs your work. You are French-Canadian, from Quebec, and also are part Iroquois Native American, is that correct? 

SL: In fact, I am only 1/8 Iroquois Native American and in Canada, in order to be officially recognized to have this heritage you have to be 1/4 Native American at a minimum. As a result, I can not really claim that heritage although I do have it in my genetic background. Many families in Quebec have lost the traditions and spirituality of the Native American culture, but in a way it is still there. It is trans-generational and at the same time unconscious. I have always questioned what it means to be a Canadian artist because I moved to Europe when I was 20 years old, and when you are not living in your own culture you understand more about what your culture actually means. I am living in France, working in Switzerland and I am Canadian. So I have three countries, three French languages, three visions of the world, and three ways of using words. This is really interesting to me and the reason why I put a huge emphasis on words and how we construct our language. 

Quebecois use fewer words than in France, but in what I feel is a more imaginative way. We have a lower vocabulary than the French but this gives a more metaphorical way of seeing life, and more room for interpretation and also, perhaps, humor. In French, it is important to choose the right word and be as accurate as possible so it is therefore less open to interpretation. It is a different vision of life. I think in my painting there is a metaphorical way of seeing life, a freedom of reinterpretation of the structures in the world, and I also try to use a bit of poetry in my work. I think the Quebecois also put more importance on simplicity, however it is somehow done in a complex way. In America or Canada, being simple is appreciated, and is also a way of being deeper and more open to interpretation. I want my work to be accessible to everyone and understood, but there are also many layers of meaning. I think that it is often more difficult to be simple than complex. 

AVM: There is a very special way you have of portraying nature. There is a combination of fantasy and realism in your work. What is your relationship with nature?

SL: There is a strong relationship between nature and humans that is special and a little strange in Canada, because nature surrounds us. In Europe we search for nature and we worship it in a way. I grew up with a sense of danger in nature, and the potential for violence. It is inescapable. At the same time, there can be a fake relationship with nature, as with the grass in my painting Ego-Construction. It is kind of a fake reality. Or a superficial reality. This reflects the title of the exhibition: “What is Really Matter” because in a fake reality you do not know what is really matter and what is a fantasy. 

AVM: I really love the paintings “Felted landscape” and “Incandescent” which are both landscapes although fantastical landscapes. Are your landscapes based on any particular places or are they purely from your imagination?

SL: Sometimes my paintings are an interpretation of an image I have seen on the internet or a photograph I have taken. It could also be a painting made up of a collage of different images that make sense to me. I also sometimes make a computer model in 3-D through AI to create a new world. I do not copy any image but it is the feeling I have when I see the image and why I am attracted to it. The texture informs me as well. Initially, I search for a subject and see what I find. I like searching on the internet and then you bounce to other subjects but they all make sense and there is a connecting thread between the images. Some of them will touch me and I somehow keep the links and the structure from the original search. For example, with “Felted landscape” I searched for mushrooms and then I was influenced by the textures I found and then I searched for images of felt material. I found desert images with a velvet-like texture and this informed my work which is actually a collage of different influences. I think it is clear that a general theme in my work would be a hymn to life and the living. There is a vibration of life that is evident in my work.

AVM: Tell me about the magnolia wall that you created specifically for the exhibition at GOWEN, Geneva? The entire wall is covered in magnolia leaves which creates a special atmosphere and brings nature into the gallery. It really has to be seen in real life to fully appreciate it. What was the process of making this installation?

SL: One of the principle subjects of this exhibition is about life and the cycle of life. I am interested in many topics including native medicine in Iroquois culture and the way they see life through the four elements: water, fire, earth, and air. I am also interested in astrology and in that topic you have the same thing, there are four cardinal points. There are four seasons in nature, and in Chinese medicine there are similar elements. With the magnolia leaves, I was mixing these concepts together, and contemplating the seasons, especially the cycle of life. I had to follow the seasons when I was planning when to collect the leaves, and when to dry them. I then treated them to make them durable, ironed them, and sewed them together. There are 3,000 leaves in total, so it was quite a process. I made them especially for the wall in GOWEN but they can be taken down, adjusted in size and transferred to another wall. If you touch them they smell like a pine forest, so it is a full sensory experience. 

AVM: How would you say that your artistic style and focus have changed or evolved over the years?

SL: At the beginning of my career I was more interested in telling stories in a narrative way. As time has passed, I have become more interested in exploring materiality and spirituality than at the beginning. There is more self-reflection and my work is more intuitive. There is still an interest in materials and the subject matter of the living, of course. I think I am more confident in my work and the magical way that I can be surprised by my own painting. 

AVM: What are you working on next, what are your upcoming exhibition plans?

SL: At the moment, I am working on a large crocheted sculptural piece for a public institution in Geneva and I will also have a solo exhibition in Montreal in Spring 2027. The sculptural piece represents the roots of a tree and is 7 meters x 10 meters, so it is a very large piece. It will be installed in January for a period of five years. There is a link between materials and poetry that will be really interesting, and I can see there is a connection between my different areas of work. For example, in the exhibition at GOWEN there is the painting titled “Red Tree” which reflects my feeling that we are all kind of like trees. Trees are very important to me, especially as my name, Sylvie, means “tree” and this is perhaps why I am really interested in the natural world. I like how you can make links between disciplines in the artistic environment. I am known mostly as a painter now, but I am first and foremost an artist. 

Sylvie Lambert’s solo exhibition “What is Really Matter” is at GOWEN, Geneva until 28 May, 2026.