A 2016 Espace VERRE graduate, she is currently in her 1st year as a member of the Fusion workshop.

Before exploring glass, you worked with leather, now you intend to undertake metal. Can you elaborate on your insatiable desire for mastering materials?

I have always been fascinated by the possibility of taking a basic material and transforming it into an object. This was a common practice in bygone years, when craftspeople were essential members of all villages, but unfortunately these days they are sparsely found in our communities. I grew up in a very resourceful family; if something breaks, we tend to try to fix it ourselves; if we need a particular object, we simply make it. In my family, there are carpenters, blacksmiths and painters… It is from this point of view that I developed this near-obsession for mastering materials – to create all the objects I design in my mind.

Before working with leather, I painted, drew, worked with textile and did a little woodworking. My first apprenticeship was with a leatherworker that agreed to share his know-how with me. This was the first time that I contemplated the possibility of making craftwork a career.  For a long time, I hesitated between the jewellery-making and glass programmes, but it was the fascination with the latter that first attracted me.  Even though I am currently enrolled in the jewellery-making programme, I will never stop working with glass or any of the other techniques that I have worked with in the past. In fact, I am currently blowing glass and developing a kitchen and tableware collection, alongside of my studies, in hopes of officially unveiling it at the Salon des métiers d’art de Montréal in December.

Finally, my goal is to combine all of my skills to create unique, useful, decorative and expressive pieces. Someone once told me: ”Everything has already been done, but not in your own way.” It is with this in mind that I decided to master as many materials as possible, so that I can distinguish myself from others, and make a place for myself in the world of fine crafts.

One could say that your ”Tableware” series, with its modern and slick aesthetics, is very different – stylistically speaking – from your Demoiselles perfume bottles. Can you explain this dichotomy in your production work?

Indeed. My tableware series stems from my interest for design as well as my brief studies in industrial and interior design at the Cégep du Vieux Montréal. This collection of useful objects has clean lines and contemporary colours. It reflects the mathematical, logical sides of my personality, as well as my desire to make durable everyday objects that people can use.

My Demoiselles perfume bottles are the result of a prototype combining leatherwork and glasswork. My leather pieces are generally inspired by medieval fantasy, hence the gothic/Victorian corsets. Since the perfume bottle is an object that was used predominantly by women throughout history, I wanted to give way to my creative side and represent the voluptuous women with thin waists of the medieval era, a time period that really fascinates me. Furthermore, this was an exploration of my undeniable feminine side, one that I rarely exploit.

This duality between logic and creativity or the modern and the antique follows me in everything that I do; I have decided to take advantage of it all instead of seeing it as a limitation. Because I would like to multiply the different materials in my work, I am not afraid to explore the different styles that interest me.

You must have many ideas in store for your first-year studies at the École de joaillerie de Montréal. Do you think that your glass artist baggage will follow you during your exploration?

Of course! During my training at Espace VERRE, I developed my own style and aesthetics that will stay with me forever. Also, I learned many work methodologies that I use in everything that I do. I have a few ideas of jewellery with glass inclusions, but I essentially enrolled in the programme to learn how to use metal as a material. My ideas connected to metal are especially complimentary to my glass or leather pieces, rather than being applied to jewellery-making itself. In fact, I have a few ideas connected to mysterious glass characters that I cannot wait to create… To be continued!