Gabrielle Castonguay (www.gabriellescastonguay.com)

Gabrielle is an enamelist from Montreal. Impassioned by enameling since the age of 11, when she started learning the art, she studied and graduated from Fine Arts, Theatre and Design programs from local Colleges and Concordia University in Montreal. She subsequently worked as a designer for distinguished architectural firms in Montreal. Now, combining her knowledge of design and fine art, for several years she has been working as a full-time enamelist.

“Our world of superabundance where all seems transitory, denatured and replaceable, causes in me the need to seek a sense of the sacred and evocation. The esthetic of my work exhibits the beauty and the untameable force of nature, the rough splendour of the corrosion of metal, and the intensity of the light with all the reflections which it causes.

My approach in the treatment of the fusion of glass and metal is at the same time contemporary and exploratory while cultivating a control of classical and traditional techniques.

I am searching remarkable textures, degrees of lustre, colouration and oxidation to produce inimitable effects, creating extended contrasts. My creations emerge from universes of colours, transparencies and opaques, from depth and light. I create pieces where the atmosphere and imagery reveal traces of art thousands of years old, perfected and sustained in time where our passage on earth reveals a sense of the sacred.”

Her work is well known and well regarded in Canada as well as the larger international enameling field. She specializes in enameling wall pieces, sculptures and integration of metal enameled pieces in design/architectural work. She is a faculty member of The Richmond Art Center, Richmond, California, teach the art of enamel. She has exhibited in Canada, Europe and the USA and her work is part of private collections Canada, the USA, South America and in Europe. She was awarded the 2013 Vilnius Municipality Award for her participation in the Fifth International Biennial of Enamel Art VILNIUS Lithuania 2013.