Profile

RICHARD TETRAULT

I am a Vancouver‐based painter, print-maker and muralist.  Educated in Vancouver, Mexico and New York, I have been profoundly influenced by my experiences living and working in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. This has given me both a context for my work and, with murals, a physical locale. My themes find their genesis in the urban landscape and in the shifting dynamics of the city, including its many layered and often-overlooked narratives. Formally, I am interested in exploring the territory between representation and abstraction. I have exhibited my paintings, woodcuts and mixed media works in over 75 exhibitions worldwide.

My lineage informs my most recent mixed media prints, incorporating woodcut, screen-printing and mono-type,  and introducing elements of Metis design with my personal iconography. In this series, I am paying tribute to my family’s lineage of the Red River area of Manitoba. 

My mural work with members of Vancouver’s community strives to reflect this area of the city, its underlying concerns and strengths. I have coordinated over twenty large-scale projects. Many take the form of community action, using the process of mural-making as a springboard. Through outreach and community engagement, I have worked with artists from diverse backgrounds.  Internationally, I have participated in projects in Argentina, Mexico, Cuba, Germany, Croatia, The United States and across Canada. 

Several projects (2014, 2016 and 2022) have incorporated artists from diverse backgrounds in carving large-scale woodcuts thematically underscoring their culture and history. The publicly accessible events (Big Print Projects) use a steamroller as the printing press on the street surface, engaging both artist and the public in a dramatic celebration of the print process.   

Photo of artist by David Cooper