- heidi taillefer

Born in Montreal, Quebec, Heidi Taillefer began drawing at the age of 3, having been brought up in a family rich in creative talent. Always attracted to the bizarre and unusual, she was fascinated by strange animal specimens and haunting turn of the century side show oddities.
During 10 years of private art lessons as a child, she developed painting skills mainly in watercolor, and was strongly influenced by surrealism combined with  strong  interests in biology, technology and mechanism. By her mid-teens, she  had  developed a highly cynical view of humanity and it's impact on the world, adopting vegetarianism and voicing criticism over society's  mistreatment and injury toward other animals and the environment. As a result, her work began to take on the markings of an obsession with technological development throughout society.

Originally depicting subjects as machines placed in natural settings, her work acted as a nostalgic embrace of the past, as seen through the lens of a culture racing forward at high speed, fitted with massive technological advancement. Her paintings attempted to both denounce and celebrate technology and the changes it could promise or threaten, as a projection of what we are becoming, with both the appeal of the familiar and the jolt of where we are headed.

After pursuing a degree in Humanistic studies at McGill university, Taillefer  took numerous trips to developing countries which turned her focus  to the more universal issues of the human condition, within the context of modern society. It is at this time that she became self-taught in oils and acrylics, while her work became more symbolic, often constructing complex paintings where the parts that make up the whole are to be closely inspected if their meaning is to be shown and understood.

Having spent several years working as a freelance illustrator, Taillefer's work has appeared in numerous publications, and dons the covers of various books and magazines. She has exhibited her paintings through venues across North America, including the McAllen International Museum of Art and Science in McAllen,Texas, and is currently represented by Yves Laroche gallery in Montreal,  Thompson Landry gallery in Toronto, and Strychnin gallery in New York. She is best known for having designed the internationally recognized image of "Dralion" for the Cirque du Soleil.