Of French origin, Laurent Craste has been living and working in Montreal for the past 22 years. His career has involved both a studio practice in contemporary ceramics and the teaching of ceramics at the college level.
“At the heart of my artistic pursuit is the decorative object. My research centers on conceptual explorations of the multiple layers of meaning of decorative collectibles, in their sociological and historical dimensions, and also in their ideological and aesthetics ones.
This approach takes its form in the re-appropriation of historical ceramic archetypes. My research considers the object as a social indicator, a “sign bearer”. Considered as instruments of political power, ideological vehicles, demonstrations of ostentatious luxury and economic power, but also as incarnations of emotions and experiences, the historical archetypes of decorative arts consummately provide me with useful material.
Therefore, I regard the inventory of original models from the main 18th and 19th century European porcelain manufacturers and use these models as a basis for research on the status of the collectibles, by subjecting them to a practice of deconstruction and violent alteration of their formal structures, or by contaminating their traditional decorations through a subversive process of subject substitution.
Via this approach, I have recently turned my attention to an interdisciplinary practice that combines decorative objects and video in a totally original way, using ceramic models as screens for video projections. These corruptions, formal and iconographic, as they reassess the historical, social, political and aesthetic values of the decorative object, also reveal an intense and ambiguous relationship with it.”
Laurent Craste’s works are on display in many public and private collections such as the permanent collection of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Public collection of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Canada, The Cirque du Soleil collection, the Musée de Châteauroux (France) and the Musée des maîtres et artisans du Québec permanent collections, the City of Montreal and the Loto-Quebec collections among others.
Images courtesy of Laurent Craste
Discover: www.laurentcraste.com
