Montreal  “Laure Conan” by Ola Volo

Ola Volo's magical work is a tribute to the French-Canadian author Laure Conan, one of Canada's very first female writers.

Ola Volo's work Laure Conan, located in Montreal's historic Plateau Mont-Royal neighborhood on a newly created park, celebrates the 100th anniversary of the death of a very special artist. Laure Conan was one of the first, if not the first, French-Canadian female writer and an innovator in the field of psychological literature. Her influential debut Angéline de Montbrun follows the life of a young woman who also loses her fiancé after the death of her father and an accident that disfigures her face. Her reflections during her subsequent self-imposed isolation deal with her situation and life choices and her religion in diary entries and letters and remain an important document of French-Canadian identity at the time of the British siege of Quebec at the end of the 19th century.
To honor the 100th anniversary of the author's death and to keep her name present in the collective memory, the work was commissioned by the Montreal Street Art festival MURAL and presented to the public on June 25, 2024. Ola Volo, who grew up in Vancouver and lives in Montreal, has a complex folkloric style, her intricate works are full of details and surprises. On many levels they are full of secrets, seeming mysterious and humorous at the same time. Very often, as in this case, the focus is on women or creatures from the animal world, protagonists of intricate folkloristic tales. Symbols, objects, flora and fauna populate her mostly wall-sized, powerful works, such as Laure Conan wearing a heart map on the mural dedicated to her. The heart therefore plays an almost hidden central role in this literary homage.

According to Ola Volo herself, her intention was "to depict the writer as both powerful and introspective. The card reflects themes of love, intellect, and influence—she held a strong place in literature, much like a queen in a deck of cards. The crown over the heart also speaks to her deep emotional and spiritual themes in her writing." Finally, the location fits the motif perfectly: the Plateau is "a neighborhood so rich in culture, history, and artistic expression. It feels like the perfect place to celebrate an author whose work shaped part of Quebec’s literary identity. It was so fun to paint there, especially next to a brand new park!”
 

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