KJ Scott (Quédjé)

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Biography

Quédjé is a Canadian painter from Ottawa, Ontario, whose artistic journey began at an early age with oil painting lessons. This sparked a lifelong passion for art, though security concerns steered her toward safer ways to earn a living. Over the past forty years, she has studied at various art schools and while working primarily as an arts marketer, she has had sidelines in diverse creative fields, including metalsmithing, interior decorating, and graphic design.

Quédjé has returned to her first love, painting. Focused on pursuing the arts as an artist, she channels her life experience into her work, often exploring themes of humanity’s role in its own destruction and the planet’s persistent cycle of renewal and transformation.

Related education:
Bachelor of Art, University of Guelph, Fine Art and English, 1989
Editorial Illustration, Ontario College of Art and Design, 1991
Interior Design, Algonquin College, 1998
Haliburton School of the Arts (ON), 2014

Statement

After years of searching for my artistic voice, I have discovered that, at my core, I am a Surrealist. There is profound satisfaction I find in crafting metaphors and embracing the freedom of automatism. This series, still in progress, imagines a future when nature rebuilds itself. It is a reflection of my personal experiences, along with concerns for, and love of the earth.

I know I’m on the right path with my art when I’m in the zone, a state of flow. In my interpretation, flow is the true essence of artistic automatism. “Flow” is also a technical term, a way I now paint and how I previously worked with silver. When the materials, whether acrylics or metal, are fluid, they reveal their true identity.

Working in acrylics, I approach each new piece with a seed of an idea, knowing what I want to express. That seed grows organically as the piece takes shape. This is a dialogue between myself and the artwork, which I trust to expand the story. Through observation and reflection, a conversation emerges that is tied to my own unique thoughts, perspectives and experiences.

Digital tools often assist me in refining elements and concepts. They are only a means of research and efficiency, not replacements for the depth of human creativity.

I’m most influenced by nature, visual art and film. The more imaginative the work is, the more it resonates with me. James Cameron, Marc Chagal, Yorgos Lanthimos, and Inka Essenhigh are the types of artists whose imaginations get my own wheels turning.

It is my wish that through my art, people will think about nature as I do, and come to a hopeful place about its future. Nature will survive and rejuvenate itself although it may be very different than it is today.