Martin Wautié

Martin Wautié is developing a project around scaffolding which serves as a metaphor for the structures, both visible and invisible, that support us on a daily basis. The artist explores how these fragile mechanisms, whether they be our routines, our pleasures, our rela­tion­ships or our beliefs, allow us to cope with uncertainty and to ​"stand strong".

At its core, the project is based on par­tic­i­pa­tion: Martin Wautié has stepped out to meet the residents of Chicoutimi to gather their answers to one simple question: ​“What scaffolding have you put in place to prevent your world from falling apart?”

Their responses, be they sincere or imaginary, will form the raw material for an audio collage. This work, which is at once an instal­la­tion, a sound piece and performance art, combines different media to create a dialogue about our vul­ner­a­bil­i­ties and our resilience strategies. The artist is seeking in this way to forge links with the public and question the foundations of our individual and collective existence.

Martin Wautié's approach is fun­da­men­tal­ly mul­ti­dis­ci­pli­nary. He combines words, sounds, and images to create hybrid works that explore themes of human fragility and resilience. Scaffolding has become the central theme of his artistic practice, allowing him to address the invisible structures we build to face life's challenges; be they financial, ecological, or relational.

From a technical perspective, he enjoys combining materials with contrasting qualities to create tension and spaces for reflection. His aim is to incite viewers to introspect about their own position in the world, inviting them to question the systems they have set in place to give meaning to their existence, and to consider new ways of inhabiting the world.

Mul­ti­dis­ci­pli­nary artist Martin Wautié began by writing poetry before gradually expanding his practice to include music, drawing, and hybrid per­for­mances such as Gloomy Machine (literary and drawn concerts) or La Grande Soupe [The Big Soup] (sound pieces and video per­for­mances). Having graduated in visual arts, spe­cial­iz­ing in comics, from the Institut Saint-Luc [Saint-Luc Institute, art school], Brussels, he published his work in co-ops, he self-published his first fanzines, and won 3^rd prize in the Revelation Blog at the Angoulême Inter­na­tion­al Comics Festival, which led to his first publication (Une nouvelle aventure de Super Rabbit [A New Adventure for Super Rabbit]).

Forced to take a career break during which he developed skills in mechanics, design and con­struc­tion, he continued in parallel with residencies, murals, concerts and group exhibitions. In 2015, while staying in Quebec, he began his second graphic novel, Comme dire gendarme à un sourd [Like saying police to a deaf person], supported by a creative grant, which remains a work in progress.

In 2022, he designed the scenography for the Whispering Light exhibition, joined the Ateliers Mommen art colony and obtained artist status, allowing him to dedicate himself to new media (painting, instal­la­tions, VR experience, video and sound creation). The following year, he organised Ma toute dernière expo [My very last exhibition], a well-received mul­ti­dis­ci­pli­nary solo exhibition.

In 2024, he coordinated the 150^th anniversary of the Ateliers Mommen (Habité·e·x·s [Inhabited]), took part in several exhibitions in Belgium and led a poetry and instal­la­tion residency (L’espace mince et lumineux entre les briques de mon déni [The thin and luminous space between the bricks of my denial]). In 2025, he is hosting radio workshops, creating a mural for a Brussels bike workshop and developing his project Échafaudages [Scaffolding]. He currently lives in Chicoutimi.

Visit the artist’s website to learn more about his work.