Artist: Cybèle B. Pilon
Cybèle B. Pilon, QUEBEC
Artist Statement
Although I work mainly with clay, the "decorative" remains the main raw material of my practice. I dig my inspiration in my french Canadian material culture and shape it into colorful, highly ornamented objects. I am interested in everything that was historically discredited on the basis of their perceived femininity and considered non-essential or superfluous in Western culture. I try to reclaim what is coded as amateur and inferior. This is one of the reasons why I like to use vibrant commercial colors, earthenware and to make utilitarian pieces. I like to see a mug as a sculpture or a 3 dimensional canvas that intrudes our daily life, like a Trojan horse. Behind its function, lies a real opportunity. For me the domestic space is a radical and powerful place to display and engage with art.
In my work, I am looking for contrast but also ambiguity, the blur line between the princess and the clown. I like glittery and precious universes with a zest of strangeness. I hope to create objects that echo the complex world from which they emerge. My creations sprout from tradition, bloom in the contemporary world and are the future vestiges of the past.
Bio
Born in 1990, Cybèle B.Pilon is a french-canadian artist and professionally trained ceramist based in Montréal. She graduated from Bonsecours Ceramic Center in 2017, after a Bachelor degree in Communications Sciences at University of Montréal. Inspired by her french-canadian cultural heritage, her pictorial language is developed by declining and altering pre-existing patterns she found in the public space, Québec’s built heritage or folk art. Her work is characterized by the use of a water etching technique to create colorful highly ornamented functional objects made with a locally produced red earthenware that contains claystone from Gaspésie (Québec).
Resume
Education
2017- DEC 3 years technical studies in ceramics at
Centre de céramique Bonsecours, Canada
2013 - Bachelor degree in Communications Sciences at University of Montréal, Canada
Professional experience and professional affiliations
Member of the Board of directors at the Bonsecours ceramic Center, Montréal
Member of CMAQ (Quebec Craft Council)
2018-2020 Ceramic teacher at CEDA, Montréal
Selected exhibitions and Craft shows
2023 « Yunomi invitational 2023 » at Clay Akar, Iowa, IA, USA
2023 « Featuring artist » at Charlie Cummings Gallery, Gainesville, FL, USA
2023 « Featuring artist » at Clay Akar, Iowa, IA, USA
2022 « Prix François Houdé 2022» at La Guilde Gallery, Montréal, Qc, Canada
2022 « Americano Invitational 2022» at Clay Akar, Iowa, IA, USA
2022 "The Intimate Object XVIII » at Charlie Cummings Gallery, Gainesville, FL, USA
2022 « Yunomi invitational 2022 » at Clay Akar, Iowa, IA, USA
2022 « Exquisite Forms IV » at Charlie Cummings Gallery, Gainesville, FL, USA
2022 « Mug Madness 2022 » at Saltstone Ceramics Gallery, Seattle, WA, USA
2022 « Prix François Houdé 2021» at La Guilde Gallery, Montréal, Qc, Canada
2021 « Small Favors 2021» at The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA, USA
2021 « Répertoire pictural HMM» at Maison de la culture Mercier, Montréal, Qc, Canada
2021 « Make and Do curated boutique » at The Clay Congress
2020 Art residency at Maison de la culture Mercier, Montréal, Qc, Canada
2020 « Small favors 2020 » at The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA, USA
2020 « Les fenêtres intempestives 2020 » exhibit headed by Corporation d’animation des places publiques, Montréal, Québec, Canada
2019 « Souk 16e édition » at Montréal, Québec, Canada
2019 « Ornement(ation) » at Lewis Gallery, Limoilou, Qc, Canada
2019 « Roche-papier 01 » at Espace POPOP Gallery, Montréal, Québec, Canada (Curator)
2019 « MA s’expose » at Agora du Cégep du Vieux Montréal
2019 « 1001 pots 31e édition » at Gaétan Beaudin Gallery, Val-David Qc, Canada
2018 « Marching through the Fields », Warbling collective, London, UK
2018 « 1001 pots 30e édition » at Gaétan Beaudin Gallery, Val-David Qc, Canada
2018 « Le bol…12 céramistes/12 appropriations » at Bonsecours Ceramic Center Mtl, Qc, Canada
2018 « 100 » at Bonsecours Ceramic Center Montréal, Québec, Canada
2017 « 1001 pots 29e édition » at Gaétan Beaudin Gallery, Val-David Qc, Canada
2017 « Exposition coups de coeur du public » at Salon des Métiers d’art de Montréal, Mtl, Qc, Canada
2017 « #FinirBonsecours » at Bonsecours Ceramic Center Montréal, Québec, Canada
Awards and grants
2022 -Finalist for the François-Houdé award, excellence in crafts
2021- Finalist for the François-Houdé award, excellence in crafts
2021- SODEC grant, Assistance to businesses in the arts and crafts
2019- Jury's favourite mention at Souk 2019 - Craft and Design Show
2018- SODEC grant, Assistance to businesses in the arts and crafts
2018- Finalist at The Etsie, international design competition by Etsy
2017- STA recipient (Québec financial assistance for start-ups)
2017- Jury's favourite and public's favourite awards, Bonsecours graduate exhibition
2013- Recipient of a Desjardins Robert-Carle scholarship
Selected press and publication
Ceramics Monthly. September 2022 issue. « Studio Visit »
https://ceramicartsnetwork.
Zinc #59, March 2023 issue. « Jaser d’art sur les ondes du 96,9 » by Daphné B.