Meet Emmanuel Laflamme: One of Our 30 Faces of YES
When Emmanuel first began experimenting with digital art, he couldn’t imagine it would one day lead to international recognition. A self-taught multidisciplinary artist with a background in cartoon animation and graphic design, he started by sharing playful, thought-provoking images online — creative mashups that blurred the lines between imagination and reality. But turning that passion into a sustainable artistic career was no easy feat. That’s when he turned to YES for guidance.
Through workshops, coaching sessions, and conferences, Emmanuel found the structure, business insight, and community he needed to grow. His YES coaches helped him navigate the professional art world, refine his goals, and develop the confidence to present his work to a wider audience.
Today, his art is shared and recognized internationally — his most recent solo exhibition was just earlier this month at Kalkman Gallery in the Netherlands. He now creates art full-time and continues to explore new creative directions, drawing on the tools, insights, and confidence he gained through his journey with YES more than a decade ago.
Interview with Emmanuel
What brought you to YES, and what were you hoping to achieve at that time?
I came to YES in 2012 to meet with the artists’ coach for advice on different aspects of becoming a professional artist. It was still early in my career, I already knew 2 or 3 artists who were benefiting from these services, and was eager to get to the next level. I felt it was a great opportunity to learn from more experienced people and open myself to new ideas and clarify my objectives.
Can you tell me about some of the challenges or goals you faced when you first connected with YES? Was there a particular moment or obstacle that felt especially significant?
The first challenge I remember facing was when one of my creations had been attributed to Banksy and had gone viral. I was a bit overwhelmed by the response and unsure of how to process it. Because of the nature of my early work (mostly centered around appropriation and detournement), I was quite insecure about my own artistic process. That was before I learned about Richard Prince. Haha! I can honestly say that it brought me to an interesting place and triggered the process of finding a more personal artistic voice… which I believe is still in its early stages.
Left: Emmanuel working in his Montreal studio. Right: A piece from Emmanuel’s “Le Théâtre de la Réalité” series, part of his first solo exhibition in the Netherlands this month.
How did YES support you in overcoming those challenges or moving forward in your career, business, or artistic journey?
The greatest support I found with YES was in regards to being held accountable to my own objectives. Each month I would meet with the artists’ coach, we would talk about the next steps I wanted to make. Each month, I had to answer to the previous month’s objectives and the coach was keeping track of it all. That very simple idea, of having someone asking me about my objectives on a regular basis and checking in, it made me so proactive and efficient. It made me want to keep my word by developing the habit of acting on what I said I wanted on a regular basis.
Were there any tools, workshops, or insights from YES that made a lasting difference?
The habit of setting goals on different scales and building plans of action to reach them. Building a mailing list… the most valuable tool I still have at the moment to promote my work. How to manage social media and sales, I’ve learned quite a few insights from the YES workshops. So many encounters at the artist conferences. One of which led me to my first collaboration with a commercial gallery.
Where are you now in your journey, and what achievements or milestones are you most proud of?
In many ways, I can say that I remain at the same place in my journey. My objective is still to materialize the creations and ideas that grow inside of me and share them with people. I now have the advantage of being able to do this full time and with more means, which is a blessing in and of itself. A recent milestone was getting my own studio early this year.
Looking back, is there a particular moment or success that stands out as a turning point?
The moment I decided to study art full time on my own.
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