He had a job as an assistant graphic designer in an advertising agency when a colleague took him to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and he saw The Black Star by Paul-Émile Borduas.
His sculptures had simple forms and were made of inexpensive industrial materials such as glass, plywood, wire mesh and reinforced concrete.
Concrete was his choice for an important series organized around a central empty space,[4] with individual titles such as Without (1979, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec).
[2] In the 1980s, he applied a metaphorical language to his work, derived from reading Hymns to the Night by the mystic poet Novalis and visiting Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
In addition, Poulin used expressive titles such as Lamento and La Part de l'ombre (The Shadow Side) (1985–1986, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec).