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François Grenier artist - Photo: Scott Taylor
BIO AND ARTIST STATEMENT

I am an emerging artist working with ceramics based in Chatham, ON. 

My path is not a typical one. My interest with clay first began with the study of surface treatment. From there, I progressed to hand building as a mean to create a canvas for the dry glazes - 'crusts'. A large portion of my practice continues to focus on developing dry crusts for clay shapes designed to give life to the materials enrobing them.

 

My steady research into surface treatment has been transferred into a technical book for the ceramic students, offering a method that demystifies the nature of glazes and allows the learner to work and research raw material independently.

My current focus is an examination of the relationship between texture and form, and also how dry glazes can be extended to large figurative installations, mostly exploring aesthetics; visual art is a refuge away from undesirable human behaviour. Beauty in all senses of the word augments our discerning senses, and makes a mind calmer thus more open to deeper thought processes.

The appreciation I have for clay/ceramic is such that I prefer putting forward its many elemental qualities avoiding surface treatment which conceals the clay and the ceramic materials. I create vessels and sculptures with dry, matte, and often crusty surfaces so my forms show depth and are inviting to the touch. All this can be seen in my Cabossés vessels.

CV

My ceramic education is mostly self directed but includes taking classes for the entirety of 2016 at the Round House Cultural Centre’s Pottery Studio in Vancouver, BC, with Sue Griese, Cheryl Stapleton, Nora Vailant, and half a year training with Vin Arora.

​I exhibited in fourteen group exhibition in British Columbia and Ontario, and one solo exhibition in 2023 showing a new body of work at ARTspace in Chatham, Ontario titled Trimorphism.

MEDIA

Interview

Listen to a radio interview with Radio Canada from June 17th, 2023 where I talk about my new body of work: Trimorphism - the interview is in French. 17 minutes long.

Newspapers

Read the article published in the Chatham Daily News of February 21st, 2023, and Chatham-Kent This Week of February 23rd, 2023 where I talk about making it as a finalist for the Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramics 2023.

Award

Finalist for the prestigious Winfred Shantz Award for Ceramics 2023.

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