Martin Varallo is a visual artist living and working in Sainte-Marguerite-du-Lac-Masson, Québec, Canada.

His practice explores the relationship between landscape, memory, and transformation. Working primarily with charcoal and elemental materials including iron, copper, and natural processes of erosion and change, Varallo creates works that reflect the passage of time and the traces left behind.

Working in and responding to the Laurentian forest, his process is rooted in presence and observation. The act of entering a place, paying attention, and allowing materials and chance to participate becomes an essential part of the work.

Before dedicating himself fully to visual art, Varallo spent more than 25 years as an international performer, actor, clown, and physical artist. His career included work with Cirque du Soleil as principal clown as well as performances with Pomp, Duck and Circumstance in Germany and Teatro ZinZanni in the United States.

This background in performance continues to influence his visual practice through an ongoing exploration of presence, gesture, improvisation, and response. The same qualities that shaped his relationship with audiences now inform his engagement with place, material, and process.

Martin Varallo is also the co-founder and artistic director of FLiP — École de cirque in Sainte-Adèle, Québec, where he continues to develop and support creative expression through circus arts.