Our Art-Teachers

Eva Cvijanovic  developed a love for cinema,  drawing and sculpture at a very young age and pursued those passions through animation at Concordia University where she learned how to translate her craftsmanship into storytelling. Besides traditional drawing, she explored puppet and set making, stop-motion animation, pixillation, and continues to tackle new challenges as an independent filmmaker and illustrator. She also worked as an animation instructor at the Segal Centre Media Workshop and as a set maker on Higletty Pigletty POP!, the latest film by the Oscar-nominated duo, Clyde Henry. Furthermore, she just completed her first independent film thanks to the help from the Conseil des Arts et Lettres du Québec.

In the future, she hopes to find a way to bridge the gap between the art world and everyday life, to reach and inspire worldwide communities through the magic and playful nature of art and animation.

Native of the city of Quebec, France Guérin lives and works in Montreal since 2001. She has a Master degree in research and creation, from the Department of visual and media arts from UQAM and a Bachelor degree of arts from the University Emily Carr art & design in Vancouver. She also studied one year at the Victorian College of the arts, in Melbourne Australia.

Since 1994, her work was been presented in several artists centers and galleries in Canada and even Australia. Moreover, she participated in many events and festivals, among which the Prince George Art Festival in British Columbia (1998), the Artropolis event of Vancouver (1997, 2001) and the Festival Winterlude (Ottawa, 1996). Her paintings are parts of several private and public collections.

The evocative power and poetry that reside in the colour motivate her approach in painting. Whether it is oil, watercolour, or digital, the colour represents for her more than light or material. It is synonymous of space. The mixture of colours, the sensorial characteristics, harmony and symmetry of forces are elements she takes pleasure to deepen. Her chromatic research is therefore the result of careful consideration, and also emotions. Thus, color in her artistic work simultaneously expresses a desired atmosphere and the history of her inner process.

Since 2002, France Guérin taught various disciplines in visual arts, among which drawing, acrylic, oil, watercolour and digital arts. She taught visual arts to fine arts students at UQÀM, also Saturday drawing and painting course at UQÀM, as well as at the Association of residents of Champfleury in Laval, and is currently at Art Neuf, at the cultural center Galixa - Lavallée in Montreal.

Inspired by the Buddhist philosophy of the middle path as well as other mystical traditions, I create visual spaces where realities overlap each others. I try to express a certain difficulty to be in the in-between, the oscillation, the wavering.

More than trying to destabilize the spectator, I question the power of the mind and the shortcuts it can take in order to solve a problem or an enigma. As a matter of fact, in my latest work we can see how, despite the missing part (i.e.: Petite configuration II) the mind re-creates the suggested shape; from memory it fills the blanks, when a totally different thing could be happening in the empty spaces. In an other example, like Configuration I, the mind is also put at work, but this time the lines are not following from one fragment to the other and it creates a discomfort, an unbalance that leaves us in an intermediary space; like an unanswered question.

For several years my research has been proceeding through superposition of layers (color and medium) and fragmentation. These two actions allow me to investigate two spaces simultaneously; the imaginary space (illusion of depth) and the physical space of the exhibition room; and therefore gives me a wide range of possibilities. Each of my compositions are made of squares, circles and/or triangles that seem to be individually linked to each other but are separated by a neutral space, the wall. Everything is happening in the encountering, the correspondences, the missing and suggested spaces. These spaces are multiplying, unfolding in many directions (physical, mental and spiritual) in a way similar to Deleuze’ folds (see: Le pli, G. Deleuze) which allows me to explore the domain of installation and, in some cases, work on site specific installations.

http://www.francoiseissaly.com/

http://www.artotheque.ca/arto-f/issaly-francoise.html

Françoise Issaly's activities at La Salamandre Art Center.

Juan Aquino studied drawing at the National School of Fine Arts in Lima, Peru. He also studied a Bachelor in Visual Arts at UQAM (Montreal), and etching with a specialization in lithography. Juan Aquino has been working as a professional painter in Montreal for 12 years . His art works are exhibited in some galleries in Quebec and in Florida as well as in some private collections.

First painter then collagiste, Katia Gosselin photographic practice really starts in 2004. Her artistic approach focuses on the human body whose central themes are sign language, impulses and abandonment, which explains she works with dancers from here and elsewhere. Her work has been the subject of numerous solo and group exhibitions in several cities of the world among which Montreal, Quebec, Ville-Marie, Brussels, Toronto, Shanghai and Majdanpek in Serbia, as well as of publication, including the Éditions Boréales and art magazines. Katia Gosselin is actively pursuing her artistic career while giving photography courses and workshops. She is currently preparing a solo exhibition for the Maison de la Culture planned for fall 2011 and is represented by the Galerie d'Este in Montréal.

A third generation painter, Laurel Sprengelmeyer's work has been shown in the United States, Canada, and Japan.  She attended the University of Northern Iowa on a full-tuition art scholarship, and received a graduate certificate in Digital Technology and Design from Concordia University.  Laurel uses classical oil painting techniques in much of her work, often combining this approach with multi-media and digital methods.  She has taught painting and drawing to both youths and adults through arts centers in the USA, and has facilitated a variety of multimedia workshops in Montreal.  She operates Studio 218, a workshop and exhibit space in Montreal's plateau district. 

Laurel's art practice also extends to the realm of music.  Her visual work appears on the cover of Bell Orchestre's recent remix album Who  Design's Natures How.  A multi-instrumentalist and songwriter herself, she will be releasing her debut album The Golden Record under her music moniker Little Scream this Fall. 

After a two years stay at the Banff Centre School of Fine Arts in ceramics, Marie Côté obtained a Bachelor's degree in sculpture from Concordia University. She then follows a specialized training at the Polytechnics Liverpool in England.

She received several grants from the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec and from the Conseil des Arts du Canada. Marie Côté exhibits regularly her works since 1986. She has participated in collective exhibitions such as the « Cent jours d'art contemporain, visions 91 », « Artcité »" at the Contemporary Art Museum of Montreal and, more recently, at the Biennale de Céramique Contemporaine de Châteauroux in France. Since 2005, she collaborates with the percussionist Ziya Tabassian and with the composer Olivier Girouard on musical and visual projects. These works are part of the public collections of the Contemporary Art Museum of Montreal, of the art works bank of Canada, of the collection of the Fine Arts National Museum of Quebec, and of the Loto-Québec collection. Some of her works are part of private collections.

Math Boylan, born in 1971, is a self taught Montreal painter/ designer/ designer, who has been selling his paintings since he was a teenager. His first vernissage was held in 1993 and received press coverage by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. An image of his high realism paintings, usually evokes the response 'that's a painting?' from its viewer. Math works in oil, acrylic and watercolour. Some of his paintings can be described as a tapestry of high realism patterns and shapes. In 2002, Math began to extend his surface to painting frescoes on floors and pools.

He has completed various commission projects. His work has been exhibited in respected galleries in Halifax, Vancouver, and Montreal. He is a multi-talented individual, who also performs stand-up comedy and is a working actor. Math is currently traveling in Europe, performing comedy in Paris and London, as well as preparing studies for future paintings.

Michel Desroches' web sites:

http://www.vrvgallery.com/michel_desroches
http://ratsdeville.typepad.com/ratsdeville/michel-t-desroches-bio-fo.html
http://www.spikypenguin.com/?page=directory-detail-2&did=2 <http://www.spikypenguin.com/?page=directory-detail-2&did=2>
http://micheldesroches.blogspot.com/

Michel Desroches' activities at the Art Center.

Born in Algiers, Algeria in 1969, Nassima Bouaifer completed a visual arts higher studies diploma specialized in sculpture at the Superior School of Fine Arts of Algiers in 1995. Head of her promotion and first woman creating monumental sculptures, she also obtained a certificate in new business creation at HEC Montréal in 2009. In the frame of the policy of the integration of sculpture in architecture (1%), Nassima realized three monumental sculptures in Algeria. A bas relief is permanent exhibited in the museum of the ANP.

She participated in several collective and individual exhibitions in Algeria, Tunisia, and Montreal. She has acquired Montreal-based experience in the dissemination of current art, occupying the position of Assistant to the artistic coordinator of the self-directed artists centre, OBNL, the Central Power House. She teaches sculpture in primary and secondary schools since 2004.

Natasha Henderson is a painter, wool felt maker, and mixed media artist. Her oil paintings have been exhibited extensively throughout Canada. Her work explores themes of language and landscape, atmosphere and belonging. She treats felt-making in a similar manner to her painting; through subtle layers of colour and texture a captivating result is achieved. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Emily Carr Institute in Vancouver in 1998. Some of her work can be seen on her web site. 

Bio

Artist / Professor: Patrycja Walton (over 30 years of working in the art world).
Artist /Coordinator/ Director/ Instructor

Walton studied Craft and Design (1976) in Brockville, Ontario completing her studies in Textile Design at Alberta College of Art, Calgary (1979).   In 1981, positioned as Animateur of Arts and Culture, she opened an artist studio and art gallery in northern Saskatchewan teaching and producing paintings, drawings and large-scale tapestries based on her observations of Cree Indian community life. 

Walton moved to Montreal (1985) to incorporate mixed media acrylic painting, textiles and collage.  Inspired by world travels as well as, the historical textile factory background of her studio building, she produced 3-dimensional wall assemblages and touchable art (recyclage and bricolage).

Walton is a founding member of the cooperative ‘Sauvons L'usine' created to prevent 300 Grover building artists form losing their studios to condominiums, and presently is an active board member of ‘La virée des ateliers', the biannual ‘open-studio' gala also featured at the Grover.

Walton's works can be found in both private and public collections in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, USA, France, Switzerland and Italy.  Walton is represented by David Astrof Fine Arts, and works in her studio in the Grover Building in Montreal

Rita Parker is a plastic artist, a video artist and a clothes designer. She lives and works in Montréal.

Trained at the School of Fine Arts in Marseille, her work was presented in galleries and art centrers in France, the United States, Australia and Canada (Fond Régional d'Art Contemporain, Galerie Roger Pailhas, Galerie Jean François Meyer, Galerie Justine Lacroix, Marseille/ Galerie Negpos, Nîmes/ Centre d'art St Kilda, Melbourne/ Espace Soléa et Coquette, San Francisco/ Red Bird Gallery and UVA, Montréal).

She was also invited to design decors, costumes, and videos on various contemporary live performances, theatre and dance projects in Marseille, Paris and Montreal.

She participated in various programs of residences and festivals (Vidéoformes in Clermont-Ferrand, Résidence at the Jardin d'Hélys, in Dordogne, La Fiesta des Suds, in Marseille, Infridgement festival, FIMA, in Montréal...).

She has also been teaching art in schools in France since 2000 and has been invited to present her work in universities (Victorian College of Art and Monash University in Melbourne, Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Marseille).

Influenced by artistic currents such as DADA, Punk, Pop Art, the Situationists or Fluxus, she focuses on translating the "real", the present instant, and this, using the codes and clichés that offers society. The second aspect of her work is questioning herself on the richness and complexity of the human soul. It can be said that her approach is that laboratory research on the interactions between humans and society systems.

Since the early 2000s, she travels a lot and gets from it her greatest sources of inspiration. In 2003, she travels around the world during a year, to réalize "circle / me" a film shot and mounted on the road. She presents the following year in several countries. Then she moves to Rome. Before settling down in Montreal, she took the time to get back to her root in Provence.

Her work is also fed by the movement that exists in the town and in the world. Nomadism as a way to own the real.

In 1998, she creates in Marseille her brand of clothing and accessories. Affected by the environmental cause and by the over-consumption, she decides to create her new collections by using and transforming used clothing.

Installée depuis 2009 à Montréal, elle travaille actuellement sur le projet TRIP qui réunit son travail photographique et celui d'autres photographes. Ils collaborent à la création d'une nouvelle gamme de vêtements et accessoires destinés aux voyageurs et citoyens du monde.

Installed in Montreal since 2009, she currently works on a project called TRIP that brings together her photographic work and that of other photographers. They collaborate in the creation of a new range of clothing and accessories designed for travelers and world citizens.  

Sandra Djina Ravalia's activities at La Salamandre Art Center.

Sarah Tosques received her BFA, from Concordia University, including a year studying ceramics abroad at Kansai Gaidai, in Hirakata, Japan. She has since participated in two artist-in-residencies in Skagaströnd and Reykjavik, Iceland. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in Canada, Japan, and in Iceland.

Sheldon Lawlor is a multi-media artist and co-organizer of District 101 espace créatif - based in Montreal. His work frequently explores the relationship between individual and object; The cultural addiction to masses of popular symbols and consumer objects. The luring aesthetic and functional value of consumer objects and popular media is often based on illusionary concepts, conflicting with their material reality: origins/material/production/destination."We are attracted to fantasy, like the fairy tales narratives of our childhood, and the pop culture that saturates individual consciousness. We create perceptual worlds in every relationship whether with an object, ourselves or with others through concepts and aesthetics. Virtually all materials - from food, clothes to even our modes of transportation, are the fabric of our identity." Sheldon Lawlor's work frequently focuses on the individual participatory basis of all aspects of culture and industry. Lawlor is a Bachelor's of Media Arts Graduate from Emily Carr University of Art and Design.

Sophie Pagès, 37 years old, mother of two boys aged 4 and 5, came to Quebec 9 years ago and discovered there scrapbooking, approximately 5 years ago. She always liked to take care of her photos, to organize them, and to identify them to remember beautiful memories. It is therefore very naturally that scrapbooking took an important place in her life and became a passion! It is a way to take some time for her, spend great relaxing moments, leave some wonderful memories to her family and express her creativity.

She has already taught a workshop session in a community centre and is a consultant in scrapbooking for a company based in the USA.

It will be a great pleasure for her to receive you in these workshops and share good moments with you!

At first, Valérie was primarily devoted to a life of science. This cartesian, quiet, glasses-wearing nerd took her destiny in her own hands in 2002 when she chose to dedicate herself to a growing passion: photography. Today, she has a degree in Fine Arts from Concordia University and her projects speak of interpersonal relationships, the perception of the self and its place within the body and the world. Her work has sometimes been published for art's sake, and has sometimes been shown on white walls. In parallel, she is pursuing a commercial career and is working on her next projects, portraits involving video and stopmotion.

Pictures of Xavier Bonpunt's activities at La Salamandre Art Center: painting and drawing courses.