Geneviève Castrée

Geneviève Elverum ( Gosselin; April 9, 1981 – July 9, 2016), also known as Geneviève Castrée, was a Canadian cartoonist, illustrator, and musician from Quebec. An early admirer of comics, she began creating them at a young age. L'Oie de Cravan published her first book, ''Lait Frappé'', in 2000. By 2004 she had released three more books—''Die Fabrik, Roulatheque Roulatheque Nicolore'' and ''Pamplemoussi''. The latter is considered her artistic breakthrough.

Her 2012 book ''Susceptible'' gave her international success and was followed by a book of poems in French entitled ''Maman Sauvage'' in 2015. Her next two works ''A Bubble'' and ''Maman Apprivoisée'' were both released posthumously. She also recorded a total of eight albums under the name Woelv and Ô Paon (stylized in all caps).

In 2003, Castrée met musician Phil Elverum, and the two married the following year. In 2015, she gave birth to their first child. That same year, she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She succumbed to the disease in 2016. Elverum later recorded a series of albums centered around her life and death.

Early life

Geneviève Gosselin was born in Loretteville, Quebec, in 1981.Adam Baumgold Gallery. March 20, 2008
. Retrieved April 18, 2010. She grew up reading ''Tintin'' comics from an early age, so much so that she eventually entered, studied for, and won a ''Tintin'' competition. From an early age, she was drawing comics influenced by artists she loved, including Hergé, Renée French, Chester Brown, Julie Doucet, and Argentinian artist Quino. Doucet in particular had a significant influence on Castrée, influencing her character design and lettering style.

When Gosselin was five, her father left her and her mother. At age fifteen, Gosselin traveled around Canada and reunited with her absentee father. Although their relationship was strained, Gosselin's father did build her a log cabin to live in. In her teens, Gosselin, without formal training, began her cartooning career, publishing minicomics and adopting the name Geneviève Castrée.

Gosselin had a troubled relationship with her mother, experiencing both a deep connection and feelings of alienation and belittlement. Her relationship with her father was less contentious but also less intimate.

Career

Artistry

In 2000, Montréal publisher L'Oie de Cravan published her first book, ''Lait Frappé'', followed by ''Die Fabrik'' that same year and ''Roulatheque Roulatheque Nicolore'' in 2001, but it was ''Pamplemoussi'' in 2004 that served as her artistic breakthrough. The release marked her first major movement to integrate her music and visual art into one cohesive practice.

In 2012, Castrée released ''Susceptible'', a graphic novel that chronicles her childhood growing up in Quebec through the character of Goglu, her childhood nickname. It was released to critical acclaim and saw her achieve international success, as well as helping her feel "unburdened" by her memories of her mother. In 2015, ''Maman Sauvage'', a book of poems in French detailing Castrée's feelings as a mother, was published by L'Oie de Cravan under the name Geneviève Elverum. Following her death, Castrée was included in ''The Best American Comics 2016'', edited by Roz Chast.

In 2017, her final book, ''A Bubble'', was posthumously published by Drawn & Quarterly, having been completed by Portland artist Anders Nilsen and Elverum. They were initially wary about finishing it but concluded that it would be better for the book to be in a state of "easy readability rather than burden it with the awkward unfinished look, too cloaked in its context to be functional as a standalone thing." Castrée left instructions for its creation after her death. According to Elverum, she worked on it until her "literal final days". The book was created for her daughter as a gift, although she did intend for it to be published. It centers around their relationship and Castrée's struggle with cancer, which she compares to living in a bubble. It features sparse text and is instead primarily told via an image per page. It concludes with an afterword by Elverum. Elverum noted that its creation was Castrée's way of coping.

A book of poems entitled ''Maman Apprivoisée'' was released in 2018. It consists of 44 poems written in French and English. It deals with her feelings surrounding her giving birth in 2015, and being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer the same year. Elverum has said that he is putting together a book of poems by her as well as a monograph of her illustrations.

Musical career

A self-taught musician, Castrée's first release was an accompanying LP to her 2004 book ''Pamplemoussi'', recorded and mixed by Thomas Shields and Matt Skillings of the band Run Chico Run. The two artists provided many of the instruments and backing tracks to the album, as well as musical training and financing for the recording.
The album was recorded and mixed in Victoria, British Columbia. It is lo-fi in nature, with Castrée singing in French over "childlike" instruments, such as a keyboard and recorder.

Under the name Woelv, Castrée released the 2006 EP ''Gris'' via Elverum's label P.W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd. ''Gris'' saw her expand on her already-established lo-fi sound. Her final release under the Woelv name came in 2007 as ''Tout Seul Dans La Forêt En Plein Jour, Avez-vous Peur?'' (English: ''Alone in the Forest in the Middle of the Day, Are You Scared?''). The album was recorded in Olympia, Washington, via K Records, with Elverum once again involved.

In 2009, Castrée established her own label and began releasing music under the name Ô Paon. In 2010, she released an LP, ''Courses'', recorded at Hotel2Tango, Montreal, with Thierry Amar, and in 2015 released ''Fleuve'', recorded with Elverum and featuring Nicholas Krgovich and Lori Goldston.

Castrée also made appearances on recordings by Mount Eerie, Thanksgiving, Karl Blau, D+ and Aidan Baker. She and Elverum helped create the What The Heck Fest

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