The photographic work Éclosion – Une autre journée au paradis is located in the Centre communautaire, culturel, social et éducatif de Maisonneuve, above the reception counter.

The triptych is composed of three photographs. On the left is a white swan at a watering hole. In the centre, a child dressed in a white dress stands in a green field and reaches out to the viewer. To the right, an exotic white bird is perched in a tropical forest. The swan evokes elegance, serenity and stability, whereas the bird on the right expresses freedom, carefreeness, and flight. According to the artist, one represents reality and the other, fiction. In her practice, Portolese is interested in portraiture; in this work she illustrates the imagination as a psychological space in which anything is possible.

“I concentrate on elucidating facets of human experiences in relation to psychological and physical environments, relating to larger themes concerning identity and spectatorship. I attempt to weave together gesture, affect, and the nuances of my subjects’ gaze, to create an immersive and emotional landscape for the viewer.”
– From the artist’s website, in the “artist statement” section.

The project was created in 2007 in the context of the L’art public dans les arrondissements de Montréal initiative launched as part of implementation of the City of Montreal’s Cultural Development Policy, with the goal of encouraging greater accessibility to arts and culture.