Montreal is more than an art collection, it’s an onchain document of memory, identity, and place by Gamma Partner Artist Lemonhaze. Showcasing neighborhoods, friendships, and fragments of personal history, this body of work inscribes both code and emotion directly onto BTC. Below, Lemonhaze opens up about his journey, inspirations, and the layered approach behind this deeply personal work.
Who is Lemonhaze?
Lemonhaze describes himself as a coureur de bois—restless, reflective, and always experimenting in life and art. He creates for many reasons: sometimes for personal enjoyment, sometimes as a form of therapy, and sometimes for the challenge and learning that comes through the process. For him, there’s also a mysterious exchange and storage of energy that takes place when crafting works, something that continually calls him back.
Capturing Memories
The idea of turning memories into artwork is something Lemonhaze has done instinctively for as long as he can remember. He’s drawn to the idea of capturing specific periods in his life, sometimes without knowing exactly why in the moment. It’s often only later that he understands what those works truly meant. When creating Montreal, he was focused on crafting generative textures—vintage wear, decay, stains—what he affectionately calls “chic-trash.” These textures reminded him of old hockey socks marked by pucks and sticks, and that visual spark led to a flood of other memories. It soon became clear that this generative exploration was a way to paint his most cherished memories of the city. At the time, he was still early in his journey with code-based art, and Montreal became a milestone for achieving certain technical goals with texture. It was also a way to document his artistic progression. Compositionally, he kept things simple, using balanced outputs and bi- or tri-color palettes that best captured the feel of each place and moment—mature, firm, and reflective of his own personal aesthetic.
Journals with HTML
Each piece in the collection contains deeply personal anecdotes embedded within its HTML. This approach began naturally, as soon as Lemonhaze discovered he could add custom text to the HTML files of his inscriptions. With a background in writing lyrics and a passion for creative journaling, it felt like a natural extension of his practice. Sometimes his embedded writings are explicit and transparent, other times encrypted and open to interpretation. Either way, they serve as both context and companion to the visual works. He likens this method to reading old texts or handwritten letters from explorers, always curious about what was truly going through their minds. Ultimately, if someone sees themselves in his writing and it helps them think or get through their day, then the mission is accomplished. If not, it remains a therapeutic act—a memento he can look back on later, and a piece of art he values.
A Personal Montreal
The collection travels across different parts of Montreal and different phases of Lemonhaze’s life. Once he committed to the theme, he asked himself what the city meant to him—what he liked, what he wanted to remember, and where it all began. The first piece, DeSève, is dedicated to his mother, who was born in Montreal and held a romanticized view of the city, even as she raised the family in nearby Longueuil. From there, Lemonhaze created a rough timeline and selected moments that shaped him: life-changing experiences working in hospitality on Rue Saint-Paul, foodie discoveries at La Banquise, a first love in LaSalle, night outs with both good and questionable acquaintances in Five Roses, childhood memories from Saint-Leonard, his first apartment with his partner on Rue Cuvillier, and finally, a tribute to his lifelong friends in Le Belvédère.
Vivid Memories
Despite the emotional subject matter, creating the works was a positive experience for Lemonhaze. He approached each memory with optimism and used the process as a way to reflect, acknowledge, and inscribe key moments both on-chain and in his mind. Even now, reading through the works more than a year later, he finds they bring a smile and summon the same vivid memories. The collection serves as a folder of snapshots, tracking both his artistic and personal evolution. “The mood was good in Montreal,” he reflects.
Suburbs Gallery
Now, with Montreal being exhibited in Suburbs Gallery, the artist brings the project full circle in a poetic and meaningful way. He always kept this collection close to his heart, and when the opportunity to show it locally arose, it felt too aligned to ignore. Sometimes, he says, things are just meant to be—and this was one of those moments. For him, this is the best possible way to share and present the work.
The Toolbox
The final piece, Le Belvédère, reads like a love letter to the friends he’s had for over 30 years. Lemonhaze reflects on how those relationships shaped not just his memories but his way of engaging with the world. While the group experiences are abundant, what stands out are the individual moments with each friend—unique connections that span vastly different fields of interest. These one-on-one relationships, both intellectually and spiritually, inform how he approaches his life, art, and the people around him. He sees parallels between group dynamics and individual relationships, and often explores this relationship in his work.
Lemonhaze states that “with friends, you grow your toolbox as a human and I like to apply more or less the same kind of mindset all around in my art and interaction with the people around.”
An Anchor
Montreal acts as an anchor for Lemonhaze—a neutral lens through which to assess, appreciate, and preserve memories. In making the collection, he felt he was finally able to document a positive snapshot of the past. As he puts it, “What are we all doing here? What’s the point of all this? Why this or why that? Oh... and why are we taking pictures? To remember?” For him, the collection is a way of storing what matters, even if memories themselves are fleeting. It’s a reminder that while you can only carry so many physical things in life, the stories you hold—especially when inscribed in art—are always with you.
Unconfined
While Montreal is fully generative, created in p5.js, Lemonhaze doesn’t think strictly in terms of generative or non-generative. He gravitates toward code-based art because of its efficiency and adaptability within his chosen medium, BTC, but he also appreciates the technical challenges it brings. It’s not about the tool, but about the ability to tell a story, convey energy, and remain authentic. For him, creativity doesn’t need to be confined to a label or medium. Anything can be used to create connection.
