The SOUDÉ.E.S (Welded) exhibition of our cohort of ten 2023 graduates is coming soon! This year, the exhibition will take place from May 30th to June 11th in the magnificent space of La Guilde located at 1356 Sherbrooke Street West. Until then, we invite you to discover the creative universe of the ten graduates of the college jewelry program, offered in partnership with the Cégep du Vieux Montréal.
It is a real pleasure to see their evolution as artists. Each of them has developed his or her own artistic language, and they are able to handle materials and forms in their own way, representing their vision of jewelry.
Élisabeth Brousseau
Being passionate about physical activity and particularly active modes of transportation for many years, my vision of functional displacement takes a place very close to the body, in which the latter becomes the machine, or merges with it to provoke the movement that allows to move forward. In a vision approaching biomechanics, my jewelry explores the machinery and mechanics in an organic way.
I am particularly inspired by the bicycle and the parts that make it up. In my jewelry, we find interpretations of the latter, notably the cassette and the chain. I was able to experiment with two diametrically opposed approaches, the organic design for the first, where the original inspiration was hardly recognizable, and the literal and more industrial version for the second. I find the idea of contrast interesting to develop, and the freedom to go in all directions without having to qualify the statement.
Harry Warshaw
“Seed” is an exploration of algorithmic and generative design in the context of jewellery. As a designer who utilizes CAD software and 3D printing for my work, I’ve often questioned the role of modern technologies in the creative process. With this collection, I sought to push the boundaries of what it means to be a designer, and to embrace the idea of becoming a system designer.
Using Rhino 3D and Grasshopper, I built a plugin that would generate unique jewellery pieces based on an 8 digit seed number. Through this process, I was able to create shapes and pieces that would have been impossible to conceive with traditional techniques. The challenge was to create pieces that were not only visually appealing, but also physically possible to fabricate.
Each piece in the collection is generated from a single seed number, resulting in millions of possible variations. The orientation, materials, and shapes are all determined by the seed number, which manipulates a number of parameters to generate a 3D file that I then print, cast, assemble, and finish.
Inspired by other artists who have explored algorithmic and parametric design, such as Tyler Hobbs and his Fidenza project, “Seed” is an exploration of the intersection between modern technology and traditional jewellery design. It represents a new direction for my work and a bold step forward in the world of jewellery design.
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Joanie Guillemet
A collector at heart, I like to create jewelry that includes multiple elements, which are discovered a little more with each glance. The juxtapositions of materials contribute to create a surprising play of contrasts and guide the eye of the spectator through my creations. This is why I favor silver, gray and icy, in contrast with enamel, vibrant and deep with its infinite range of colors.
Fascinated by games, I try to give a playful character to my jewelry. I like to favor pure geometric shapes, such as the hexagon. The hexagon refers to rigor, organization and hard work, but also refers to a more fun universe by reminding us of the pieces of a puzzle or the tiles of a board game.
The six sides of the hexagon have a very personal symbolism for me as they correspond to the six colorful members of my troop: my love, myself and our four children. My choice of colors evokes the range of emotions that unite us, from joy to worry. The reversibility of my creations also allows me to display the emotion of the moment, to favor one state over another. My jewelry is a tribute to the invisible thread that connects us and unites us, that stretches but never breaks.
Enzo Coloma
My discovery of the jeweler’s field was marked by my immense admiration for this meticulous work, done by hand. The ability of a craftsman to handle metals, so raw in their natural state, to bring out all sorts of shapes bursting with light, simply with the help of his ten fingers, impresses me. The stages of jewelry making, from the casting of an ingot to the final polishing, seem to me like a long ritual that people have been busy perfecting since the beginning of time. This admiration has become the cornerstone of my work, as I strive to create entirely by hand in order to perpetuate this heritage.
It is by looking back to the past to study the countless techniques of fabrication that I discovered my main sources of inspiration in the artistic currents that are Art Nouveau and Art Deco. I love the combination of these two aesthetics: the mixture of straight lines reminiscent of Greco-Roman architecture but also the rays of the sun or the delicacy of a curve drawing the petals of a flower or the wings of a butterfly. These design elements allow me to express my emotions and to recreate through my jewelry the representation of my inner self where I like to let my imagination run free.
Fascinated by the ability of a metal to shine with a thousand lights, the mirror polish is a touch that I like to bring to my creations in order to reveal all the beauty of the materials with which I have the opportunity to work.
Marie-Annick Pelletier
The passing of my mother, a few weeks before the beginning of this project, gave me the desire to pay tribute to her. So, it was with her in mind, as well as the stages of our lives, that I created this collection.
Death. The void left by the death of a loved one. The one that hits us in the chest at any time during a mourning. Here it is.
Feminine and floral, this necklace is a testament to the experiences of life that enrich us, and the experience of death, which leaves us with a great void. The melting texture symbolizes the accumulated memories. The clasp contains the ashes of the one who was taken. Hidden from view, a pink and black tourmaline covers them, the color of the woman, the color of death.
Life. How can we talk about death without talking about life? The bracelet represents the incessant whirlwind of our daily activities. Each link influences the next. A circadian circle that always turns a little too fast and drags us. Let’s enjoy it.
Birth. The earrings evoke our arrival in this world. Mothers’ bellies. The elements of the collection are present, but are not yet organized, like the newborn who will have to blossom to enter the dance of life.
Now, let’s go, let’s live.
Élliot Leroy
I keep my memories and desires of my youth close to me. I wish to continue to dream as one can as a child and I translate this into my jewelry by taking inspiration from what has shaped me, without imposing restrictions. That’s why I frequently draw my inspiration from the world of games, Japanese anime or science fiction and fantasy.
Rather than representing these universes in a literal way, I prefer an abstract approach, focusing instead on the shapes, textures and moods created by the jewelry as a whole. I work with textures intuitively, either in wax or directly on the metal, and I let myself be guided by the material until I obtain the desired result.
Isabelle Sylvestre
Welcome to my little world of fairies! Inspired by the forest, I try to capture the essence of nature in my jewelry, a complex and enchanting work of art. I have dedicated my life to creation in order to be aligned with my passion. Metalwork, in this case jewelry, as well as painting, are disciplines that connect with me more than any other work. Making a living from my art by following in the footsteps of my grandparents, De Passillé-Sylvestre, these master enamellers, pioneers in their field, is for me an inspiration that gives me the strength to persevere. Fascinated by the organic world of mushrooms, buds or vertebrae, I reproduce by casting these small elements that I find in nature to then make them in sterling silver, bronze or brass. I share my passion with my community hoping to inspire people to rediscover themselves through their passions.
Emily Trankarov
At the age of 21, being in a transition period between adolescence and adult life, I found myself reflecting on the type of woman I wish to be. It was then that I found a lyric from a song by Michel Sardou, Being a Woman, best described the conclusion of this personal reflection : “Having succeeded in combining authority and charm”.
In my work I am often inspired by the concept of duality and the many facets of human beings, of life and the emotions we experience. I often translate these contrasts by juxtaposing curved and angular shapes, rigid elements with flexible elements.
I stayed true to this way of working in the creation of the triptych Le Parfait Amalgame. The necklace in particular is both delicate, yet holds a powerful presence. It is both supple and rigid, all while perfectly embracing the body of the wearer.
Marie-Pier Drolet
At the heart of my reflections, under the leaves of the weeping willow, I love these moments of awakening that bring me back to the essential. That is to say, the privileged contact with the nature that surrounds me. Inspired by my autumn escapades, I revisit the elements that adorn the forest of this season in order to better tame them. Evoking the whistling of the wind through the leaves at nightfall, the range of orange hues evokes the nostalgia of past pleasures. Seeking to immortalize these moments of serenity and to honor this seductive nature, I drew my inspiration from this source to create the three jewels of my graduation project.
Mathis Mortier
My creations are articulated around a geometric and systemic aesthetic. In the context of my graduation project, I set myself the goal of making the necklace and bracelet without a clasp. It is by expansion and retraction of certain parts that the movement of the necklace allows an adjustment on the body. Thus, it hugs the neck according to the arrangement of the different possibilities offered. As for the bracelet, it adapts to all types of wrists thanks to a spring system that I have developed. Seduced by the unique handmade pieces, my collection entitled Constellations, is inspired by the geometry found in nature.
