CAMEO IS AN ONGOING SERIES FEATURING CANADIAN JEWELLERY ARTISTS. HERE, THEY SHARE THEIR LATEST THOUGHTS AND INSIGHTS, AND GIVE US A PEEK INTO THEIR PRACTICE.
CAMEO:
LAURA SASSEVILLE
Montréal, Québec
laurasasseville.com
Describe your current work/practice in one sentence.
I explore the amalgam of oppositions by experimenting with different materials, thereby creating a dialogue or emotion between the jewellery, the observer and/or the person wearing it.
What are three things/ideas that inspire you?
The chaos that everyday life offers in a simple walk or going to the bakery: this becomes an animated movie, where frames are being created in my mind. The corner of a building with white paint scaling up the burnt orange bricks, contrasting with deep blue skies graced by opaque washed-out clouds formed from varying hues of white and grey, for example, will somehow resonate in my work.
People around me, and their stories, create empathy in me to try to understand how we are human and what connects us or creates conflict between us.
Finally, architecture, because our bodies inhabiting jewellery objects is the very nature of jewellery.
What other things do you do besides your jewellery practice?
When I graduated in 2017, I was offered a position as a teaching assistant at the École de Joallerie de Montréal, which allowed me to share my knowledge while also continuing to learn.
Currently, I’m assisting 2 great jewellers: Petra Luz and Pierre-Yves Paquette.
I also work with artists from different fields as a creative collaborator, brainstorming with them and helping them to launch their projects. That sometimes leads to interesting collaborations in contemporary art and design. If I’m not in the studio or assisting others, I’m the mother of an awesome 5-year-old son.
By reflecting on this question, I would say my neckpiece called Home. This piece evokes immigrants taking the ultimate risk to flee an insecure or dangerous situation to survive, taking with them a metaphor of their home as protection: their values, their memories and whatever else they need to survive emotionally. Revisiting that piece today, it seems it was about the journey on which I was about to embark. I was taking that boat, choosing to become a jewellery artist and facing so many uncertainties. I didn’t know it at the time, but by taking this risk, I in turn saved myself. I knew that if I stayed on that shore, I wouldn’t subsist.
What is a favourite piece that you’ve made and why?
My Home (2017)
Sterling silver, copper, resin, morganite, thread
Photo credit: Anthony McLean
Home (2017)
Sterling silver, resin, thread
Photo credit: Anthony McLean
Creative, innovative, experimental.
What word pops into your mind when you think of Canadian art jewellery?
I will be part of the 25ans de Fusion // volet 2/2 Object + Design at Espace Verre in Montreal, from November 9, 2018 to January 14, 2019. My work will be for sale at the fair Salon des métiers d’arts de Montréal, from December 6-16, 2018. I will then celebrate the New Year in Madagascar for a month, where I’ll be doing some creative research. At the end of February 2019, I will participate in the exhibition Building the Intangible with Simon Cottrell at École de Joaillerie de Montréal.
I also had the chance to participate in the Labo VI, led by Noel Guyomarc’h, which was an explorative workshop. Over the course of a few months, we had to create and experiment with different topics and materials. In 2019, I will be producing a body of work that draws from those explorations.
What is coming up next for you?
Published: 2018/10/15
