Some artists are happy enough just reproducing what they see; others adopt a different attitude and strive to show what lies beyond their field of vision. Claude Saint-Jacques belongs to the second group. In an attempt to seek both the Self and the Other, she accepts the challenge by painting in a pictorial form without concession.

Painting after painting, a merciless struggle rages against the confusion that arises constantly in the artist's quest for the Self. The elongation of a slender body, stretched, celebrating life, the expressionist nature of Saint-Jacques' composition plus textural effects on canvas combine to remind the viewer of Giacometti. The Italian artist, however, worked in a different register and constantly alternated torment and calm, scream and silence.

Throughout Saint-Jacques' work, there runs a message seeking the means of expression. There is something that barely dares to be said because of fear, decency or shame; words emerge almost erased, rather like palimpsests that confuse boldness and modesty.