Cardboard is dynamic, and so is Michel LeBlanc, the featured artist of the Community Gallery, on now until November 23. His first-ever cardboard art exhibition, Michel LeBlanc: DeConstruction, curated by Simone Obendoerfer, is a strong and thought-provoking display of ways an everyday material can be given a second life through art.

LeBlanc has been artistic throughout his entire career, working in a variety of settings, including (but not limited to) Boeing, creating videos with the Minister of Education, providing special effects for movies, and even organizing a video festival that has been running for 21 years.

All his artistic endeavours began with a special moment shared with his dad as a child.

“My dad had sketched out the profile of a man’s head with paper and pencil and said to me, “Okay, now you try.” I tried, and something just clicked for me. My dad helped me create magic, and I knew in that moment, I wanted to create magic too.”

As he created his own magical art throughout the decades, the inspiration for his newest venture, cardboard art, came later in life, by chance, after seeing an all-natural display in his neighbourhood.

“One day, I noticed someone had created a little village on a front lawn made of twigs. After I retired, I decided to experiment with twigs and branches. It got me thinking about how, when I put stuff in my recycling bin, I can use those materials for something else. It was then that I began exploring recycling bins and learning to use cardboard as art, after watching a few YouTube videos. Now, I’m the guy at my apartment building who my neighbours drop off cardboard for me. They don’t bat an eye when they see me going through the recycling.”

His art ranges in size and complexity, and each piece comes with its own unique story. His first piece, The Guitar Store, has gold accents from a chocolate bar wrapper and fluting (the wavy paper between two sheets of board) as texture along the building’s walls. In Pipe Organ, he had trouble finding a good scale for the shoes, so instead, he wrapped some material around his own shoes and shaped it from there.

L: The Guitar Store. R: Pipe Organ (both created by Michel LeBlanc).

A skill he learned in his cardboard journey was shredding art, which is displayed on Giant Guitar (cover photo). He shredded up sheet music and wove it intricately on the guitar to create a fun design. He’s even done workshops in the community on how to make their own shredded art!

His favourite and most personal piece in the show is the study of faces drawn by Leonardo da Vinci, where he created cardboard cutouts of faces da Vinci drew, where visitors can match the cardboard to the face. LeBlanc is inspired by da Vinci and feels connected to him through his art.

“I feel part of the community, which is so important, because when I read the books and after all of my research on him, I feel personally connected.”

LeBlanc loves that cardboard is a human, earthy material and that it leans into a message of sustainability. “I want to get more people interested and involved in recycling. Oftentimes, the cardboard you’re using has already been recycled 17 – 18 times before it makes its way to you. I want to show people that we can continue to give materials like cardboard a new life, and that you can create and make art from almost anything.”

On your visit to Michel LeBlanc: Deconstruction, look closely at his pieces, and you might just find little Easter eggs that make his pieces a little more unique. While we won’t share all of them with you (you’ll have to visit to find them for yourself!), one could find something interesting when they look in the hole of the Birdhouse.

Visit the Pavilion today to see Michel LeBlanc: Deconstruction, in the Community Gallery, now until November 23.

Simone Obendoerfer and Michel LeBlanc would like to thank EventLight and Leon A. Brown Ltd. for their generous support of the exhibition.