IN CONVERSATION - Margaret Mousseau

Margaret Mousseau’s work was bought to my attention last year by her son in America. I profiled her work for the first time at the Outsider Art Fair in New York this January, and I have seen it profiled through White Columns too. Margaret’s work often features topical issues or events that have happened in her life. Read on to find out more from this lady who only started making artwork four years ago and who has recently moved onto working on wood in part four of my ‘In Conversation’ series …

Margaret Mousseau at MassMoCA in Vermont

How do you think your art practice has changed because of covid-19 and what have you been doing to keep yourself busy?
I have used my drawings to channel the increased sense of sadness, fear and hopelessness that is so prevalent in life right now. I make work with bright vivid colors to show that there is light at the end of this crazy tunnel. I have a son and son-in-law who caught COVID. The anxiety of not being able to help or be present is frustrating. Some of this frustration works into the drawings. And thankfully they are both fully recovered.

By focusing on my drawing I am less consumed by the sadness brought on by COVID and the frustrations of having a fool of a president, who is a mean bigot who supports police brutality.

I also continue to work with my geriatric clients who live in an assisted care facility nearby in Middlebury. I try to lift their spirits. Since April they have not been allowed any visitors or family. Most are sad and depressed. All activities have been cancelled. All they have to do is to walk out their door with a mask on, up and down the hallways. I have even tried to teach some residents how to draw. One of my ladies makes paintings with nail polish. Also I have a client who lives in a cottage by herself and has been blind for approximately eight years. In her past life she was a poet. Since becoming blind she has been dictating her poems and trying not to give up on life.

Exorcism of a Virus, 2020

Have you learnt any new skills during lockdown? 
I have been working directly on wood panels lately. It is a fun challenge, but not really one caused by the lockdown.

Is there anything that you are currently missing doing that you are not able to do because of lockdown?
I miss my friends and the drive to their houses through the beautiful landscapes of Vermont. We would spend hours wandering between the thrift shops and the local co-op where we would have tea and dessert. One is at high risk to contract COVID so she has to stay home. I miss our old way of life. I miss seeing people smile. I worry we will never get back to normal.

Can you tell me how it felt to have your work exhibited at the Outsider Art Fair this January through the Jennifer Lauren Gallery and how it felt to sell a piece of work? 
WOW!!! I felt honored that Jennifer Lauren Gallery selected my crazy works for exhibition. It made me feel, YES! I now believe that my drawings are good.

To know that the drawing sold was amazing. But even better was to know how the buyer personally connected to the work. It is rare to hear anything from someone who buys your work and it sounded like he found the work by magic. It gives my heart a sense of peace and it makes all of the hours spent drawing worth every second.

Margaret’s son by her work at the Outsider Art Fair in New York, 2020

Can you tell us about the themes and ideas that we see featured in your work? 
I use bright colors as a way to express that despite the sadness, grief, and longing of my characters, there is HOPE and HAPPINESS on the way to all of us. The colors also help to lift my spirit. My characters usually start out as ugly forms, but as the drawing develops they grow into the beauty of life. The titles of my pieces offer clues to what I was thinking at that time. 

What can we expect from you next?
Currently I am working on a piece, one on wood, and I will try to emphasize that there is evil in the world, but that color will eradicate the worst in people who do us harm. And I know that some of the fear and anger we are experiencing will enter the drawings in different ways.

Inside the Corona Virus, 2020