Amélie Vallières (b. 1987) examines the construction of female identity through contemporary oil portraiture.

Vallières’ practice is rooted in the tradition of portraiture, using the painted figure as a site for investigating how identity is shaped, inherited, performed, and remembered. Her work considers the female subject not as an archetype or an object of observation, but as a complex presence who carries multiple versions of herself across time.

Her recent work marks a shift from examining femininity through inherited cultural narratives toward a more intimate investigation of lived experience. In earlier bodies of work, Vallières revisited mythological and religious narratives, reclaiming figures historically cast in stories largely shaped by a masculine gaze. Her current series, Unbecoming, turns inward, questioning the contemporary expectation that women should continually improve, perform, and become.

Working primarily in oil, Vallières combines traditional portraiture with a contemporary sensibility that moves between psychological intimacy, irreverence, tenderness, and ambiguity. Her paintings are interested in what happens beneath the visible surface of a face: the memories we carry, the roles we inhabit, and the versions of ourselves that remain present as we change.

Her evolving research now turns toward the relationship between the adult woman and the girl she once was, exploring girlhood, memory, embodiment, transformation, and continuity. Through portraiture, she asks what remains of us as we move through the different stages of becoming ourselves.

Vallières holds a DEC in Visual Arts from Cégep Saint-Laurent and a Bachelor’s degree in Art History from Université de Montréal. Her work has been exhibited across Québec and Ontario, including Artist Project Toronto and Parallèle Fair Montréal, and has been featured by Télé-Québec. In 2026, she was selected by Saatchi Art as one of 26 Artists to Watch.