This residency marks a transition and a re-emergence as a solo artist, post academia. Striving towards colour for more vibrancy, which is oftenabsent in my monochromatic metal work, I wish to explore a broaderpalette inspired by the masterpieces in the collection, such as myfavorite, Helena Rubenstein by Graham Sutherland 1957.
Head of Jewellery/Metal Arts and instructor at the New Brunswick College of Craft & Designfrom 1985 to 2017, Brigitte Clavette currently teaches part-time and devotes herself to herartistic practice. She is the 2022 winner of the Saidye Bronfman Award for excellence in finecrafts (one of the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts) and a member of theRoyal Canadian Academy of the Arts. She has received the Excellence Award and TheStrathbutler Award from the province of New Brunswick. Her work is included in the permanentcollections of the National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, ON), Canadian Museum of History(Gatineau, QC), Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto, ON), Victoria & Albert Museum (London, UK),Beaverbrook Art Gallery (Fredericton, NB), New Brunswick Museum (Saint John, NB) as well asthe Art Gallery of Guelph (ON) contemporary silversmithing collection.Over the years, Brigitte has given workshops and taught at the New Brunswick CommunityCollege (Dieppe, NB), Nunavut Arctic College (Iqaluit, NU), Haliburton School of the Arts (ON),Nova Scotia College of Art and Design – NSCAD (Halifax, NS) and at the Sunbury Shores Arts andNature Center (Saint Andrews, NB).Brigitte Clavette’s current work challenges functionality. Gradually broadening her technicalpalette has enabled her to explore a world of emotions, atmospheres and personal rituals.Often eschewing the untouchable, more precious mirror finish of earlier years, these newpieces are presented in conversation with various castings and painterly surfaces, either on atable or on a wall.
