Elyse Turbide
Elyse Turbide is a contemporary painter from Quebec, originally from the Magdalen Islands. Her work, rooted in the landscape, moves between abstraction and representation through compositions that are both bucolic and contemporary.
Elyse Turbide - Carried by the Wind of the Magdalen Islands
Date and place of birth
Elyse Turbide is a contemporary painter from Quebec, originally from the Magdalen Islands. Born in 1976, she now lives in the Eastern Townships.
Education and career
She earned a degree in Visual Arts from UQAM in 2002 and has been painting full-time ever since.
When she introduces herself, Elyse Turbide will always say first that she is from the Magdalen Islands. Growing up there is central to who she is and continues to shape her work in a lasting way. Her close connection to nature, along with an awareness of its fragility, can be felt throughout her paintings.
Her career includes numerous solo and group exhibitions. She has also completed a public artwork as part of Quebec’s 1% program and previously ran her own gallery in the Magdalen Islands.
An independent artist, she continues to move her work forward with a constant desire to explore and evolve, guided above all by the simple pleasure of creating and sharing.
Work and approach
Working primarily in acrylic, Elyse Turbide creates paintings that are both sensitive and grounded in the landscape. She draws from close observation, shaped by the time she spends outdoors, where she reconnects and recharges. Her work moves between abstraction and representation, without settling fully into either.
“My paintings are metaphors for my human condition. My love of nature and its elements is present throughout my work.”
– Elyse Turbide
Her paintings offer a personal view of the natural world, where relationships between people, one another, and their environment quietly emerge. Guided by ecological and human values, her work reflects a deep respect for life.
Both bucolic and contemporary, her compositions show a strong attention to detail, nuance, and texture, shaped by a deep commitment to gesture and to the material itself.
About her acrylic practice, the artist explains: “I am constantly experimenting with the manipulation of material in the making of my work. I want the viewer to experience something sensory, where the physical presence of the painting is fully felt. Texture, layering, addition and subtraction are all part of my process. This is where contrasts emerge between smooth and rough surfaces, gloss and matte, all within an organized chaos.”
Her paintings invite contemplation, carried by movement, rhythm, and the vastness of nature.
Elyse Turbide has been represented by Au P’tit Bonheur Art Gallery since May 2026.
