PAULINE LOCTIN | SCULPTOR OF FOLDS
“Paper allowed me to really explore, to play, to unlock parts of my creativity I didn’t know existed – and to make huge mistakes. To let go of the ‘code’ of musical apprenticeship and the notion that you can never, ever make a mistake because you are always looking for perfection. My style is based on the mistakes that I’ve made, for they’ve shown me the direction that I want to take. I can be intuitive and discover new ways of doing things. New ways of seeing.”
Pauline’s story as a paper sculptor begins long before she was born, in the rich cultural milieu surrounding the Mediterranean, where her roots took on different shapes, colors and forms.
After a lifetime dedicated to mastering the violin, Pauline Loctin left her native France for Montreal, Quebec, and unexpectedly found herself questioning the path she had so carefully chosen.
From the age of 6 to 24 years old, Pauline strove to combine the elements of tone, timbre, texture, melody, harmony, rhythm, and form into flawless compositions. Her passion for technique deepened as her ability to produce the precise and desired musical effect grew. And yet, in her quest for perfectionism, she realized that she was not able to fully express herself – her pain, her joy – to its full extent. Something was missing from the elements of composition. Something felt trapped.
At 30 years old, after realizing that music would no longer be her path, Pauline returned to France for the summer and opened a book on pliage (paper folding) given to her by a friend. She folded paper every day that summer, and has been working with the medium every day since. Through the intricacies of trial and error – cutting, folding and shaping a new medium using new, manual techniques – Pauline unleashed a part of her creativity that had been locked away.
“Paper healed a lot of the things in my life that I had ignored or suppressed for so long. It helped me to access the parts of my identity and my roots that make up the whole of who I am – that connect me with my heritage, and the story of my family.”
Pauline works in the abstract and yet her sculptures create a tangible link to the essence of artistry – the process of doing something from scratch, of transforming a one-dimensional plain into multidimensional forms that connect us to a sense of beauty and vitality. For as much as an artist is shaped by her world, so too can she shape, bend and mold her world to speak to unspoken truths, giving way to a deeper appreciation for the coexistence of light and dark, joy and pain – the very fabric of human connection.
Exhibitions
Solo and Duo Show
Pli.é Project, Ausgang Plaza, Montreal, 2018
Chromatic Reflections, Galerie XII, Los Angeles, 2023
Colours Live In Darkness, Diane-Dufresne Art Center, Quebec, 2025
Public Art Installations
Ancestrale, Amalgame Galery, Montreal, 2018
Ancestrale, Artist Project Contemporary Art Fair, Toronto, 2019
Coral, Centre Eaton, Montreal, 2021
Fantaisie #1, Diane-Dufresne Art Center, Repentigny, 2022-2024
Note, Montreal Symphony Orchestra , Montreal, 2022
The Flow of Emotional Numbness, Google Headquarters, Montreal, 2023
Escale, Montreal Central Station, 2024
Flying in Nuanced Colours, Uncommon for the London Design Festival, London, 2024
Group Exhibitions
Immersion Colorée, Chromatic Festival, Montreal, 2017
Black Wall, "L'origami sous tous ses plis" Exhibition, La villa Bagatelle, Québec City, 2017
Ancestrale, Le Livart, Montreal, 2018
Barrier, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, 2019
Infinite, Thierry Mugler’s Exhibition Couturrissime, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 2019
PAPERHOLIC : Obsession papier, La Guilde, Montreal, 2022
Wildflowers, “Paradis Perdu” exhibition, Diane-Dufresne Art Center , Repentigny, 2024
Princess Diana, Royal Photographer Archives ; International Exhibition, (presented in Los Angeles, Chicago, Toronto, Washington D.C., Miami, Puerto Rico, Melbourne, Sidney, Brisbane, Perth, London) 2021 - 2024
PAPERHOLIC : Obsession papier, La Guilde, Quebec City, 2024
Art & Design Fairs
Souk Habitat, Montréal, Design Fair, Edition 2017, 2018 and 2019
Fashion Art Toronto, 2019
Artist Project Contemporary Art Fair, Toronto, 2020
London Design Festival, 2024
Internships & Residencies
Jnane Tamsna Art Residency; Marrakech, Maroc, April 2025
Ciment Pleating Atelier; London, UK; Pleating fabric internship; 2022
Grants & Awards
2020-2023 City of Montreal and Canada Council for the arts - Subsidy for artists in the visual arts and craft arts - Artist’s studio
2022 Canada Council for the arts - Explore and Create, Grant for Professional Development for Artists
2019 Applied Art Awards 2019 for best visuals for “Trapped” and “Rodeo Collection"“, Canada
2019 Experience, Bombardier Business Aircraft Magazine, Winner of the Folio Eddie and Ozzie Awards in the categories / Overall Editorial Excellence and Best Cover, New York City
Education
West Dean College; UK, Paper sculpture with Richard Sweeney, 2023
The Cooper Union; New York City; Paper Engineering ; 2021
HEC ; Montréal – DESS in management – cultural organizations - 2008-2009
University François-Rabelais in partnership with the University of Montréal - Master degree in Musicology - 2003-2008
Conservatory Francis-Poulenc of Tours ; France - Master degree in classical violin - 2007
Talks, Lectures & Workshops
London Design Festival, London (UK), 14–22 September 2024
London Craft Week, London (UK), 15-19 May 2024
Clerkenwell Design Week, London (UK), 21-23 May 2024
Concordia University, Montreal, Digital Creativity in the arts industry, 2020
Montreal In Motion [MIM], Moment Factory, Vol.1, ép.7, 2017
Montreal Circus School, “Managing your artistic career” course, 2015-2017
Clients
New York Times Magazine / Nils Frahm / Four Seasons / COS / Nespresso / Musée des beaux-art de Montréal / Uncommon London / Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal / Atelier Zébulon Perron / Google / Veuve Clicquot / Holt Renfrew / Lexus / Bonlook / Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec / H&M / Maison Simons / Yorkdale Shopping Center Toronto / Air Canada / Shopify / West Elm / Musée Pointe-à-Callière / L’école Nationale de Cirque de Montréal