Mauricette. The Giants, and Other Frivolous Tales: The Jewelry of Mlle. Guillaume

Artist list

Aurélie Guillaume

The artist creates cloisonné personages who are amalgams of her personal stories, experiences, and emotions. Akin to each character’s larger than life personality, the jewels are large and elaborate, brimming with meaning and detail that is visible on both the front and the back.

A child of the 90’s, Guillaume’s imagery is inspired by pop culture and all that it entails including street art, comic books, and French cartoons. Guillaume calls her characters “ridiculous” because of their flamboyance but they are a celebration of individuality and the artist’s hope that we, like her characters, stay true to ourselves. My cartoons use hyperbole to exaggerate the whimsical, the grotesque and even macabre nature of the world around me. I believe in the importance of finding humor in tragedy, just as I feel that we can find beauty in ugliness.

An emerging artist, Guillaume has gained recognition for mastering a traditional enamel technique like cloisonné and using it to create such distinct and fresh work. Through the process of enameling, my illustrations transcend the two-dimensional realm of paper and are given new life in the physical world as wearable objects.  By employing a combination of jewelry techniques and illustration, my work confronts the high art form of jewelry with lowbrow humor.

This exhibition will also mark the debut of Monsieur Paul Paillette, Guillaume’s first ever animated character. This humorous fellow will be accompanied on his trip to New York by Mauricette, one of her character brooches, and the Giants, a series of illustrations that are the starting point for all of Guillaume’s creations.


Aurélie Guillaume, born in Montréal, Québec (1990) is a French Canadian jeweler, enamelist and illustrator. Formally trained in the arts of jewelry and metalsmithing at the École de Joaillerie de Montréal, and at NSCAD University in Canada, Guillaume was first recognized for her work upon graduating as the winner of L.A. Pai Gallery’s 12th National student jewelry competition. In recent months her pieces have been acquired for the permanent collections of the Enamel Arts Foundation in Los Angeles the Museum of Art and Design (MAD Museum) in New York, and the University of Iowa Museum of Art. Her work was featured in Metalsmith Magazine (Fall/Vol.36/No.5/2016). Guillaume has exhibited throughout North America and Europe including SNAG, Boston, 2015; BKV, Munich, Germany, 2016; and SOFA, Chicago, 2015, 2016. Currently living and working in Chicago, Illinois, Guillaume is completing a year-long residency at the Lillstreet Art Center.
 

Opening

Artist Reception, Thursday, January 26th, 6-8pm