BIO
Anouk Looten is a visual artist who specializes in theatre design. With a Post-Graduate Diploma in Theatre Design from Nottingham Polytechnic (United Kingdom), she has numerous production designs to her name, both in set and costumes for the stage. Her design practice began in Edinburgh (Scotland) before she moved to Paris (France). Some European productions include Crime and Punishment (Avignon Festival Fringe 2004), Lucrèce Borgia (directed by Stéphane Aucante), La Guinguette a Rouvert ses Volets (Didier Bailly’s musical), Frozen (written by Bryony Lavery) and Ionesco’s Exit the King. Anouk studied mask making and acting under John Wright and Michael Chase. She also assisted Curator Katriona Hazell at the National Museum of Scotland on the exhibition The Power of the Mask (Edinburgh 1993)
Anouk is now based in Montreal (Canada). Recent productions include Wake of the Bones (directed by Andrew Johnston), A Raisin in the Sun (Black Theatre Workshop), Omaterra (circus art by City of Sherbrooke) and La Petite Ecole du Jazz (International Jazz Festival).
Anouk has developed an extensive program of art workshops in cultural mediation, inspired by her theatre practice as well as her discovery of stained glass, over the last ten years and customizes her activities for all ages and abilities. She works with significant cultural partners such as the Culture in schools programme, École montréalaise pour tous, Petits Bonheurs, and the networks of public libraries of Montreal and Montérégie, and is a regular guest artist with school boards throughout Quebec (English and French). She also teaches in the Education and Art Therapy department of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
DESIGN STATEMENT
I enjoy designing with an abstract visual vocabulary to evoke rather than represent physical spaces: simple stage elements and materials, colours and finishes that provoke the senses first. My designs are the product of patient research to unearth the small and peculiar details of a period, place or situation, often choosing to represent the physical consequences of passing time: fading, breaking, obsolescence. I enjoy atypical and recycled textiles for my costumes and makes confident use of bold colour and textural matter.
I am currently pursuing my visual research in spatial installation with the creation of non-conventional miniature maquettes and am also exploring the fascinating possibilities of Toy theatre puppetry.
Anouk Looten is a visual artist who specializes in theatre design. With a Post-Graduate Diploma in Theatre Design from Nottingham Polytechnic (United Kingdom), she has numerous production designs to her name, both in set and costumes for the stage. Her design practice began in Edinburgh (Scotland) before she moved to Paris (France). Some European productions include Crime and Punishment (Avignon Festival Fringe 2004), Lucrèce Borgia (directed by Stéphane Aucante), La Guinguette a Rouvert ses Volets (Didier Bailly’s musical), Frozen (written by Bryony Lavery) and Ionesco’s Exit the King. Anouk studied mask making and acting under John Wright and Michael Chase. She also assisted Curator Katriona Hazell at the National Museum of Scotland on the exhibition The Power of the Mask (Edinburgh 1993)
Anouk is now based in Montreal (Canada). Recent productions include Wake of the Bones (directed by Andrew Johnston), A Raisin in the Sun (Black Theatre Workshop), Omaterra (circus art by City of Sherbrooke) and La Petite Ecole du Jazz (International Jazz Festival).
Anouk has developed an extensive program of art workshops in cultural mediation, inspired by her theatre practice as well as her discovery of stained glass, over the last ten years and customizes her activities for all ages and abilities. She works with significant cultural partners such as the Culture in schools programme, École montréalaise pour tous, Petits Bonheurs, and the networks of public libraries of Montreal and Montérégie, and is a regular guest artist with school boards throughout Quebec (English and French). She also teaches in the Education and Art Therapy department of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
DESIGN STATEMENT
I enjoy designing with an abstract visual vocabulary to evoke rather than represent physical spaces: simple stage elements and materials, colours and finishes that provoke the senses first. My designs are the product of patient research to unearth the small and peculiar details of a period, place or situation, often choosing to represent the physical consequences of passing time: fading, breaking, obsolescence. I enjoy atypical and recycled textiles for my costumes and makes confident use of bold colour and textural matter.
I am currently pursuing my visual research in spatial installation with the creation of non-conventional miniature maquettes and am also exploring the fascinating possibilities of Toy theatre puppetry.