Julie Forgues (photo courtesy of the artist)
Canadian Julie Forgues has been named as the 2024 recipient of the Glenfiddich Artists in Residence Program.
Forgues, from Moncton, New Brunswick, is a professor of photography in the Université de Moncton’s Department of Visual Arts.
She is the 19th Canadian to be awarded the residency, which received a record number of applicants this year. The prize is valued at more than $25,000 and includes a three-month all-expenses paid summer residency at the Glenfiddich Distillery in Dufftown, Scotland.
“In the past few years, I have been working on photographic research about how a space can be transformed into a place but can also fluctuate between both states,” she said in her proposal.
“These in-betweens in landscapes are fluctuating states that I then render into photographic images. At every site I have photographed, I think of what was there, what is there now and what will be there in the future: spaces that are now places, but mostly places-spaces that are in limbo-ing states. My work therefore makes this process of fluctuation visible.”
“Julie’s proposal to examine how culture shapes geography will resonate nicely with the opportunities at the residency,” said Dave Dyment, Glenfiddich Artists in Residence Consultant and artist, in a news release.
“It reminds me of a quote from Scottish writer Alasdair Gray: ‘If a city hasn't been used by an artist, not even the inhabitants live there imaginatively’.”
Forgues has participated in other artist residencies around the world, including China, Iceland, Ireland, Japan and the Arctic Circle, as well as the prestigious Swatch Art Peace Hotel residency in Shanghai. She holds an MFA in Studio Arts – Photography from Concordia University.
Applications for the 2025 Glenfiddich Artists in Residency Program will open in December 2024.
Since its inception 23 years ago, the program has had more than 160 artists from 20 countries participate. Art created each year during the program remains on view at the distillery for years to come.
Derek Liddington, from Toronto, was the 2023 Glenfiddich Artist in Residence.
Source: Glenfiddich, PMA Canada