Bio

Colleen Dwyer Meloche is a Montreal/ Tiohtià:ke based artist who works predominantly with porcelain. Her art practice ranges from eclectic ceramics for the home to sculptural constructions incorporating clay, wood, metal and at times, found objects.

In her functional work, Colleen uses hand-building techniques as well as throwing on the pottery wheel. She layers stencils of coloured underglazes and applies image transfers to create surface treatments. The design of these limited edition collections centers on serving pieces embellished with variations of the circle.

Her precariously assembled sculptures reminiscent of toys, architectural elements and familiar domestic objects explore idealism in childhood and play, the tension between the cherished and the reviled and the desire for balance between work and play. Colleen’s work dissects the tapestry of universal feelings of loneliness, confusion and joy as they play out in metaphors of balance and belonging. 

Colleen received her BFA with distinction from Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. She has participated in long-term ceramic internships in both Montreal (AtelierTransit) and the south of France (Office Franco-Québecois pour la Jeunesse); where she enjoyed individual mentoring and on-site experience in driving a professional art practice. Colleen has also studied drawing in Italy and has exhibited her work in France, the United States and Canada.

Artist Statement

“What we seek, at the deepest level, is inwardly to resemble, rather than physically possess, the objects and places that touch us through their beauty.”

– Alain de Botton

I create loose entanglements with paper clay to investigate the idea of unravelling. Each sculpture has several resting points playfully blurring the line between place and purpose. My work dissects the tapestry of universal feelings of loneliness, confusion and joy as they play out in metaphors of balance and belonging. 

With inviting arches and forbidding angles, my work addresses notions of desire and vulnerability that are tightly tethered to the objects and spaces we encounter collectively. I’m curious about the ways emotions color an experience and how the cherished and reviled parts bring tension to the tenderness.

Paper clay subverts the meaning of “thin places” as points of weakness to conjure a place of strength and transformation. The thin strips of clay reference delicate structures, vulnerable points and elements of collage.

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