Céramystic 2023
Expo-Sale
Trained as a graphic designer and inspired by still life photography and the symmetry of the plant world, Pascale Tétreault enjoys exploring the material by combining traditional throwing techniques with in-depth research into enamels and glazes. Her image is characterized by simplicity, elegance, symmetry and timelessness.
Maggie Jalbert is fascinated by the transformative processes of clay combined with the vast possibilities of glazes, thus combining earth and glass. Her intention is to let the traces of her gestures show through, creating the story of a creative journey while revealing the material and the effects of the transformations of the clay. She will present at Céramystic a collection characterized by the unpredictability and unexpected aspect of gas and smoke firings.
Fabienne Synnott creates everyday objects that call for interiority. She conceives her pieces as portals that offer the user the possibility of entering into oneself, especially the pieces designed for drinking. These objects made for daily rituals stand out for their natural and comfortable grip, for the contrasts of glazed versus bare earth textures, for the subtle variations of glazes that invite the presence of the self and an inner journey. Each of her pieces is treated as a sculpture in its own right.
Her process is markedly different from that of mass production. Isabelle Simard insists that each of her collections is individually thought out and considered. For Simard, refusing the pressure to mass produce is an act of resistance. Splitting her daily life between horticulture and floristry allows her to distance herself from performance. She tends to create in the moment, like a season that is constantly renewing itself. Isabelle Simard will present us with a collection that recalls a time of the past, that of childhood.
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Amélie Pomerleau's image is defined by the poetry of gesture, symbolism and humanism. Considering herself a multidisciplinary artist, her main practice for nearly ten years has been in ceramics. For her, the symbolism of transformation is revealed through ceramics. The infinite possibilities of combining handbuilding, finishing and firing make it a discipline that never ceases to pique her curiosity and her impulse to research.
His practice utilizes the potter's wheel for his utilitarian pieces, and handbuilding for his sculptural works. Marko Savard navigates between these two worlds while seeking satisfaction and balance. His production is comprised of small collections of objects revisited from time to time—at times playful and colorful, others more sober and obscure. He puts forth through his creations a very personal vision of ceramics that carry his signature.
Suki Craig's work seeks to combine the simplicity of form with the natural movement of the wheel, imbuing her pieces with the traces of delicate gestures. She is particularly interested in making small series and one-off pieces. She is greatly inspired by the nature she encounters in her urban walks. She integrates into her work natural elements such as willow branches, vine stems, and pieces of wood. She is also inspired by old objects to create new concepts.
For Eve m Laliberté, the discovery of the ceramic medium has allowed her to bridge some of her contradictions; rigor and casualness, order and chaos, impulsiveness and reflection. Eve aime la liberté, creating to share.
Laliberté will share a collection marked by rigor but which leaves room for the freedom of accidents in the process of creation.
Dubord uses the following quote by Iris Apfel to sum up her work: "More is more and less is a bore". She proposes a heterogeneous and exuberant aesthetic where each of her pieces is distinctive. Her work is inspired by the Mad Hatter's tea time from Alice in Wonderland. Unexpected combinations of old and new, repeatable and overlapping patterns are part of her approach to her work as a ceramist. She likes to talk about the past in the present, to bring old memories to life in the everyday. She uses the (coined) term poético-ludique intime, or "intimate poetic-playful" when describing her work.Dubord Céramiste | Verrier will present us with a collection that will speak of the past in the present, that will bring back old memories in the everyday life.
Her love of pottery finds its footing in the traditions of functionality. Natanya Nerenberg's work is an exploration of the medium and its history, with a marked interest in geometry and form. Natanya Nerenberg will present a collection meant to elevate the acts of the every day and turn each of them into a unique experience.
As a maker, Valérie Blanchard draws her inspiration from the natural and built environments that surround her: textures, movements, contours, color variations. She designs and makes ceramic objects for the table and for the home with intention. She focuses on human-scale production that emphasizes craftsmanship and material. Through the use of these objects, she wishes to play a part in rituals that remind us to slow down and take the time to appreciate small and big moments.
These ceramic objects made of natural stoneware show the artist's love for the material. Shapes are round, soft, soothing, and invite you to touch them firsthand. Her forest and seaside-inspired designs bring beauty, light and comfort to daily rituals.
Michèle Lavallée's creations are an updated and informal reinterpretation of old dinner services, decorated with floral motifs. Her work expresses her love of the natural world and invites nature into our homes. She wants to have a positive impact on people's lives by allowing them to use practical, beautiful objects created especially for their daily lives.
The ceramicist creates everyday objects, giving great importance to the functionality of each piece. Her work is distinguished by the use of wood firing, but also by the fineness of her pieces, the simplicity of form, thus leaving to the glaze and to the effects of flames and ashes the space necessary to tell their story.
In ceramics, the multidisciplinary artist creates decorative and functional objects and sculptures of small scale. Francine Potvin explores the ritual object, profane or sacred, individual or collective. She mainly uses handbuilding techniques and explores the notion of the vessel as a receptacle: the vase; the urn; and the lachrymatory. She also creates forms inspired by pebbles, oblong or ovoid shapes that she engraves with archetypal symbols. To create her most recent sculptures, she utilizes a technique of soaking plant material in paper-clay which she amalgamates into shaped forms. The resulting sculptures are reminiscent of corals.
In all cases, the symbolic dimension of these receptacles and the manifestations of life that are evoked challenge the artist and nourish her practice.
Ellen Leung's brand is about infusing everyday, simple rituals with joy through handmade objects. She wishes to provide functional ware that is pleasurable to the touch, to use and to look at, awakening mindfulness and curiosity. She is currently in the process of rediscovering herself as an artist-cum-labourer—reconciling her status as a living, thinking being who performs repetitive, machine-like tasks in service of beauty and consumption. This new body of work is part of her ongoing exploration of how she can embrace function through visual and haptic pleasure, and make the organic coexist with the structured.
Catherine De Abreu's practice is intimately linked to her way of existing in the world: she creates in order to better understand what is inside her and to better communicate with the other. Tableware made with care and rigor at human scale. The particular attention she attributes to the quality and durability of the pieces she creates is present at all stages of the making process, which reconciles with the notions of sustainability and economic degrowth to which she adheres. She draws her inspiration from the life that surrounds her be it nature, relationships with others, with herself, or with the environment.
Jennifer Lys Grenier's artistic approach is based primarily on her fascination with materials: textures, plasticity, sensuality, and heritage. Her impulse to make is fueled by her observation and curiosity about the physical world, whether natural or created. The essence of her artistic identity is presence, intention, and uniqueness.
As a multidisciplinary artist, ceramicist, teacher, songwriter and musician, Eva Ferenczy-Reichmann creates vessels on the wheel using several types of clay and exploring different finishes and glazes. She particularly enjoys the challenge of making different forms, deforming, and assembling with intention to create the final piece/artwork, whether sculptural, functional, or both. She wishes to create something that will bring elegance, wonder, or simply a smile into the home. Her works are one-of-a-kind ceramics, whimsical and original in thought and design.
Originally a thrower, Christian Roy has now been working on his own collection for over 10 years. Hand thrown and engraved , his pottery is a blend of fluid movements and technical research. His pieces celebrate sharing food. Ergonomics and proportions are at the heart of his practice.
Ceramics have been Johanne Piché's passion for over thirty years. The aesthetic and technical qualities of the product are at the forefront of her concerns as an artist. She works in porcelain and stoneware and uses oxidation as a firing technique.
Muraï Céramique offers colorful, refined pieces that highlight the fusion of glazes and are designed for pleasure of use (wide handles, thin cup lips, bowls with practical shapes...). The originality and liveliness of the glazes distinguish this work. With the power of alchemy present in the process of creating ceramics, Muraï wishes for clay, water, fire, glazes, and air to interact in such a way as to create microcosms where the elements become tangible. The cosmos, the ocean, the volcano and vegetation can thus be imprinted in a cup or a sculpture, and their power transmitted to the public.
Catherine Auriol of atelier Gaïa makes objects for everyday use, seeking a balance between the beauty of the object, the pleasure of execution and the wonder of resolution. Gaïa has been located on Laurier Avenue E in Montreal for nearly 25 years, until May 2023. Its trademark is the respect for technique and quality of craftsmanship.
Jennifer Tannahill's work is inspired by the beauty and fragility of nature. She handcrafts porcelain vases that are adorned with delicate wilted flowers drawn with underglaze pencil. The finished pieces resemble charcoal drawings on folded paper, capturing the fleeting nature of life and decay.
Through her work, Tannahill seeks to create a sense of nostalgia and poignancy, inviting the viewer to consider the transience of all things. The contrast between the enduring physicality of the vase and the ephemeral nature of the flowers depicted recalls the impermanence of life and the importance of cherishing the present moment. Her vases are a celebration of the cyclical nature of life and a tribute to the beauty that can be found even in the most fleeting of moments.
Fabrica Ateleia draws inspiration from nature, and more specifically from waterways with their polished river pebbles in often surprising colors, to offer tableware that gives free rein to the user's imagination. With its lines and shapes available in both classic and organic designs, and with a vast choice of matching glazes, customers can create a completely personalized set to their own taste. The possibilities are endless, creating a unique "mix & match" table setting.
Since 1996, ceramics have constantly piqued Mariejosée Desjean's imagination, enabling her to develop new pieces, decors and textures. She creates playful, poetic ceramics and gives each of her pieces a unique character through their decoration. Most of her creations are very colorful.
She explores other techniques such as weaving and engraving, then grafts aspects of them onto her work. She also incorporates quotations, a legacy of her studies in literature and the important place words still occupy in her life.
Daniel Gingras makes utilitarian pieces for everyday use. The main characteristic of his production is the firing process in a wood-fired kiln he built. His art is utilitarian and Japanese-inspired. He appreciates the perfection that can be found in imperfection. Each of his pieces has a unique character, achieved both by the spontaneous act of throwing and the unpredictable glazing effects of wood-firing.
Elizabeth Hamel creates works of outstanding simplicity, purity, and delicacy. She devotes herself exclusively to working in porcelain, mastering this temperamental medium in the development of her highly refined creations, creating utilitarian porcelain pieces for the table.
She polishes the exteriors of her pieces and uses a black slip for her distinctive decorative elements. The interiors are glazed with copper red, enabling her to obtain color variations through a refined process of supervising the oxidation of the glaze, by controlling the amount of oxygen present in her gas kiln during the reduction stage.
Everyday objects in stoneware, Sarah-Jeanne Riberdy's ceramics have a refined style that is in keeping with contemporary ceramics. Using both throwing and handbuilding techniques, the ceramicist showcases her expertise by combining the practical and aesthetic aspects of the material with minimalist visual language.
Through her handbuilding work, the young woman fashions pieces that allow her to explore the material by unfolding its traces and memories while seeking visual and spatial balance. These distinct practices enable the artist to find herself in opposite poles and to play freely between rigor, skill, discipline, exploration, play and discovery.
Sylvie Schueler's artistic practice is intimately linked to soil erosion.
In creating her work, Schueler integrates recycled paper with clay to make "paper clay". The paper burns during firing, giving the ceramic a particular texture. The imprints left by the paper fibers lend an organic dimension to the ceramics. The result is a spontaneous, yet controlled cartography of the landscape that echoes her questioning of human alteration of the environment.
Arts Trail
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A Natural Life: The Gift
Curated by Vicky Chainey Gagnon
This exhibition features the work of visual artists, Guillaume Bégin, Leisure (Meredith Carruthers and Susannah Wesley), Margaret Griffin, Sara A.Tremblay and contemporary dancer Élise Legrand. Some of the artists were in residency at the Rozynski centre to create their works; others came to the exhibition with bodies of work that reflect on nature and clay. Each artist was tasked to reflect on the gift that Wanda Rozynska (1929-2007) and Stanley Rozynski (1931-2012) left behind in a fully functioning ceramics studio for generations of artists to come.
It was in 1964, eleven years after their marriage and a few years spent making art in New York City and Montreal, the Rozynskis bought a schoolhouse in Way’s Mills. This would become their home, studio, and summer school. Among the artworks displayed in the exhibition are vases by Wanda and sculpture by Stanley, and documents and photographs drawn from their extensive uncatalogued archive. The exhibition as a whole celebrates the natural life the Rozynskis led and the impact upon artists working today.
For more information about the artists, please consult their websites:
Leisure
https://leisureprojects.tumblr.com/
Sara A.Tremblay
https://www.saraatremblay.com/
Elise Legrand
Margaret Griffin
Guillaume Bégin
A warm thank you to the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, whose support renders this project possible.