PHILLIPPE SIROIS is an accomplished North American folk artist, a fact attested to by the genuinely significant body of carvings he has produced during the past half century. The carvings are his own design in several significant aspects. They can be related to the works of late 19th century trompe l’oel painters such as William Harnett and Alexander Pope who, among other expressions, attempted to render "eye-fooling" hanging game paintings. For effect, their paintings relied on an extreme realism that concentrated on minute detailing. Sirois’ carvings may also be compared on a superficial level with the popular service area of the taxidermist whose main business purpose is the preservation of trophy catches as documentation of sport. Sirois’ bas relief fish carvings are a documentation of the sport of fishing in the true trompe l’oel sense. Each of his fish is an exact scale carving and painting of a fish he caught primarily to eat; and at first glance, Sirois’ fish carvings appear to be as real as the fish he caught. More »