Les Duchesses

Les DuchessesLes Filles du Roi is the name given to the large group of young women sent from France to Canada in the 17th century as brides of the state. Approximately 800 selected girls, mostly orphans and some widows, were provided with a dowry from Louis XIV to help populate the fledgling colony. On average, they were wed within four to five months of their arrival and would bear 7 to 8 children. These women, often ill perceived as prostitutes or Filles de

Les Filles du Roi is the name given to the large group of young women sent from France to Canada in the 17th century as brides of the state. Approximately 800 selected girls, mostly orphans and some widows, were provided with a dowry from Louis XIV to help populate the fledgling colony. On average, they were wed within four to five months of their arrival and would bear 7 to 8 children. These women, often ill-perceived as prostitutes or Filles de joie, helped double the population over the duration of the ten-year migration program (1663-1673). Systematically, a nation was founded on their backs.

The project chronicles their journey referencing the visual language found in heraldry. As an early form of political branding, it denotes personal progeny and royal alliances as well as regional iconography. Each scene was constructed using cardboard cutouts and digital manipulation to create a theatrical three-dimensional coat of arms. The images allude to the Filles du Roi’s social and historical environment but not without incorporating elements from contemporary society, specifically French-Canadian cultural tropes and signifiers.