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Fe a t u r e d C o n c o r d i a A r t i s t Mel Arsenault

We only die once, stoneware, 2016.

"Curiosity for the potential of material transformation is one of the many elements motivating my practice; research in glaze chemistry a l l o w s m e to p e r fo r m a n d experiment with a wide variety of mineral matter. I feel like an alchemist as I’m making and exploring glazes to achieve different ef fe c ts of i n ex p l i c a b l e a n d mysterious transmuting. I love the unexpected, want to feel some wonderment and ceramic as a medium, has the capacity to convey those aspects: when a piece goes through the firing process, so many variables are at play that the results (sometimes d i s a p p o i n ti n g) a re o f te n unpredictable and the anticipation of rediscovering a piece that has been transformed by fire is always exciting."

Petri Biomes project

The idea for making the Petri Biomes comes from an aesthetic interest for nature’s beautiful compositions of mold and bacteria growing in petri dishes. In this project, the container becomes a place where different ideas about cellular life, landscape and color can be developed.

We only die once..?

These 36 individual self-portraits were made with the idea of quantum physics in mind and question the notion of identity and experience. Based on the string th e o ry , w e w o u ld b e l i v i n g simultaneous lives in deferent locations and periods, meaning that we could die more than once... Curiosities, 2016.

Petri Biome - naxos, porcelain, 2016.

Petri Biome - Wound desert, porcelain, 2016.

melarsenault.com

Petri Biome - Diffusion, porcelain, 2017.