artist's statement

My current art practice articulates itself around a site-specific approach to installation art which illustrates the human perceptual relationship with nature and makes plain an attentiveness to the agency of the natural environment. My research explores notions of responsibility or entanglement, permanence or ephemeral, perception or realism. 

 

Ceramic embodies water, earth, fire, and air in each of its transforming stages. I explore these aspects separately, giving them time and space to act; to later observe the relationship which manifests using water and clay for example. I use natural materials that are either exploited or modified by humans, such as kaolin, beeswax, firewood, or salt. The additive process of foreign material to a natural environment demands the need for balance. There is a fragile edge on how much one can add without wrecking the ecosystem. My insertive actions question the relationship between the non-human and the human, bringing forward the illustration of the cycle. 

 

I am interested in the ways my marks disappear, exposing the deliberate interaction with time. My intervention in nature happens in real-time and the installations create from it undergo almost no post-production work. My challenge is to find ways in which the experience of my art-making can be created and shared with minimum impact on the environment. My artwork is materialized through performance, video, earth art, sounds, and installations. 

 

I see my gesture as drawing. I use drawing as a visual language to create lines that function as a cut into space. By erasing the horizon, or working close to the ground, or taking my body out of the composition, a dislocation happens. The sense of place is taken away, leaving space for the matter and the natural elements to become the actors. I use a minimalist aesthetic that deliberately lacks expression to distill the meaning to its essential and to encourage observation.

 

I look at the conceptual underpinnings of diffraction to explore a type of art that exists on the edge where artistic gestures, natural elements, and matters intra-define one another. I use this concept as a method to dissolve boundaries thereby accentuating the generative and resilience of the material forms with which social actors interact.  I explore the relationship between the perceiver and the perceived and think about how my installation can create a moment where natural elements and human experience are intertwined, where responsibility and attachment coexist, and where to embody entails disappearance.

 

main_large_Marianne Chenard Ceramiste
biography

Marianne’s art practice articulates itself around a site-specific approach to installation art that attempts to illustrate the human perceptual relationship with nature while exhibiting attentiveness to the natural environment agency. It questions a notion of responsibility or entanglement, permanence or ephemerality, perception or realism, and is sensitive to the issues of climate change and the pursuit of global environmental sustainability. Her artwork is materialized through performance, video, earth art,  sounds, and installations. 

 

Originally from Rimouski Qc Canada, Marianne’s work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions in Québec, Canada, and France. She has taken part in several artist residencies and frequently offers specialized training in image transfer techniques on clay. She holds a BFA from Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver and an MFA at Alfred University NY, USA. 

curriculum vitae
Education
Master of Fine Arts, 2021
Alfred University, Alfred, NY, USA
 
Baccalauréat in Visual Arts, 2008
Emily Carr University of Art+Design, Vancouver, BC
 
College Diploma in Fine Arts, 2003
Cégep du Vieux- Montréal, Montréal, Qc
 
Professional development
2021- now   Professeur Concordia Université, Montréal, Qc Canada
2021- now   Professeur Maison des Métiers d’Art du Québec, Québec, Qc Canada.
2021              Assistant Professor: Foundations Sculpture Class with Matt Kelleher and Brett Hunter, Alfred University, Alfred, NY, USA.
 
2021             Invited Artist/Speaker, Concordia University, Montreal, Qc Canada.
2021             Quebec representative member in Make and Do Ceramics Canada.
2021             Invited Artist/Speaker in Julie Simoneau’s class, MMAQ Quebec, Qc, Canada.
2021             Panelist for Decoding the Weather Machine: virtual panel discussion featuring an interdisciplinary group of Alfred University students and faculty, Alfred NY USA.
 
2020             Assistant Professor: Junior level Sculpture Class with Meghan Smythe, Alfred University, Alfred NY USA.
2019             Assistant Professor: Design Class with Johnathan Hopp, Alfred University, Alfred NY USA.
2019 |2018  Director of Ceramics, The Visual Arts Center, Montreal Qc, Canada.
2019 |2018  Ceramic Instructor, ceramic and printmaking classes, The Visual Arts Center Montreal, Qc Canada.
2019 |2017   Ceramic Instructor, Centre d’Art Rozynski, Ways Mill, Qc Canada
2019 |2014   Ceramic Instructor, teaching several workshops on ceramic chemistry and print at Atelier Aluminé, Atelier Make, Gaia Céramique, Kingston Potter’s Guild, and other private studios in Québec an Ontario Canada.
 
2019 |2017    Private mentor teaching in my personal studio, Montreal Qc Canada. 2019 |2017    Ceramic Instructor, teaching introduction to hand-building to children from 5 to 8 years old, Atelier Boutique Les Faiseurs, Montreal Qc, Canada.
 
2018               Invited Artist/Speaker in Amélie Proulx’s class, Concordia University Montreal, Qc Canada.
2018               Invited Artist/Speaker, Alberta College of Art and Design (now AUarts) Calgary AB, Canada.
2018               Invited Artist/Speaker, North Mount Pleasant Arts Center, Calgary AB, Canada.
2014 |2011    Ceramic Instructor, ceramic and printmaking classes, The Visual Arts Center Montreal, Quebec Canada.
2013               Ceramic Instructor, Maison des Métiers d’arts du Québec, Québec, Qc Canada.
2013               Ceramic Instructor, Centre de céramique de Ste-Foy, Québec city, Qc Canada.
2010               Ceramic Instructor, initiation to pottery for kids, École Margaret Manson, Montreal, Qc Canada.
 
Solo exhibitions
2021               Elementalis, Thesis exhibition. Turner Gallery, Alfred, NY USA.
2013               Nordicité, Maison des métiers d’arts de Québec, Qc Canada.
2010               Érable, Ateliers du Trois Cinquième, Québec, Qc Canada.
2006               Remade/Re-fabriqué au Canada, The Plank Gallery, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
2004               L’âme de fonds, Cégep du Vieux-Montréal, Montréal, Qc Canada.
 
Group exhibitions
2021               This Moment of Rupture, Kaplan Gallery, Rockville Maryland USA.
2021               La Céramique en Plein Essor, La Guilde Galerie, Montréal Qc Canada.
2021               Conflux, Group Exhibition, Sculpture Space NYC, New York, NY, USA
2021               NCECA Students Juried Exhibition, DAAP Gallery, Cincinnati,OH, USA.
2021               Come Hell or High Water: All graduates exhibition, Turner Gallery Alfred, NY, USA.
2019               Contemporary Clay: Quebec The New Clay Conference, WallSpace Gallery, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
2018 |2016   Exposition des finalistes, Prix François-Houdé, La Guilde, Montréal, Qc Canada
2017               OH Canada, Esplanade Art Gallery, Medecine Hat, AB Canada
2017 |2016    Exposition des finalistes, Prix François-Houdé, La Guilde, Montréal, Qc Canada.
2016               Mutation: Les Métiers d arts au Québec depuis 1930, Musée des Maîtres et Artisans du Québec, Montréal, Qc Canada
2015               Matière et Mémoire : la terre et ses maîtres céramistes, Musée de la Culture Populaire, Trois- Rivières, Qc Canada
2014               Spoon Me, Medalta International spoon show, Medalta Medicine Hat,AB Canada.
2014               Medalta International Artist in Residency Final Exhibition, Beehive Kiln Gallery and Old Factory, Medalta Medicine Hat, AB Canada.
2013               HOTMUD – A National Survey of Contemporary Canadian Emerging Ceramists, Burlington Art Center, ON Canada.
2012| 2013   Finaliste du Prix François-Houdé, Galerie CRÉA, Montréal, Qc Canada.
2012               La céramique dans tous ces états, Centre d’exposition du Vieux Presbytère, Saint-Bruno- de- Montarville Qc Canada.
2012               Exposition de Céramique Contemporaine Québécoise, Bandol, France.
2012               Matière et Mémoire : la terre et ses maîtres céramistes, Centre d’art de Kamouraska, Qc Canada.
2009              I’m Fine You’re Fine. 14 Artists Respond to Climat Change, On the Rise Gallery, Vancouver, BC Canada.
2008              AL203 2Si02 2HO2, The Plank Gallery, Vancouver, BC Canada.
2008              Invited artist, Gallery of BC Ceramic, Vancouver, BC Canada.
2008              The Cheaper Show, Storium, Vancouver, BC Canada.
2008              Pedestrian, Emily Carr Institute of Art+Design, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
2008              EnGENDERed, Emily Carr Institute of Art+Design, Vancouver BC, Canada.
2007               Visceral, Emily Carr Institute of Art+Design, Vancouver, BC Canada.
 
Mentions and grants
2018                Research and development grant, Conseil des Arts et Lettres du Québec Canada.
2017                Grant Jeunes professionnels des métiers d’art to attend the Journées Européennes des Métiers d’arts, Paris, France.
2012                Honorable mention, Prix François-Houdé, Conseil des métiers d’arts du Québec, Montréal, Qc Canada.
 
Residencies and internships
2018               Workshop with mold maker Robin Martinet from Limoge France, Porcelaine Bousquet Qc Canada.
2017                Artist in residence, Medalta International Artist in Residence Program, Medicine Hat, AB Canada.
2015                Artist in residence, Medalta International Artist in Residence Program, Medicine Hat, AB Canada.
2013                Artist in residence, Maison des métiers d’arts de Québec, Qc Canada.
 
Collections
                       Alfred Ceramic Art Museum, Alfred NY USA
                       Private Collections
                       Musée des Maîtres et Artisans du Québec, Ville St-Laurent, Qc Canada
 
Publications
2013              La relève québécoise : Marianne Chénard, La Revue de la Céramique et du Verre numéro 189. mars et avril, p 26-28, France.
 
Most notorious juried events
2018              Toronto Outdoor Art Fair, Toronto, ON Canada.
2018 |2017   Cabbagetown art and craft sale, Toronto, ON Canada.
2018|2017    Halifax Crafter Society Sale, Halifax, NS Canada.
2017               Fusion Show, Toronto, ON Canada.
2016 |2012   One-of-a-kind Show and Sale, Toronto, ON Canada.
2016 |2014   Haliburton Art and Craft Festival, Haliburton, ON Canada.
2014 |2011    Souk@SAt marché de design, Montréal, Qc Canada.
2013 |2010   1001 POTS, Val David, Qc Canada.