Chantel Gushue

Bio

Chantel Gushue is a visual artist based in Halifax, Canada. She received her BFA from the NSCAD University (2003) and her MFA from MassArt (2020). A lover of geometry, science, and colour, Chantel's work includes jewellery, drawings and small sculpture installations. Holding dual diplomas in gemmology, her recent work reflects on her knowledge of gemstones and crystallography to draw connections between crystal growth and the human condition. Chantel has exhibited internationally and is passionate about building community with other art jewellers.
 

Statement

My work focuses on crystal growth as a metaphor for an intense desire to reach an unattainable perfection, inevitability resulting in failure. A crystal growing in nature relies on ideal external conditions to allow it to reach its full potential; any change in those conditions results in a crystal that is malformed and full of deficiencies. Ideal conditions are rare and finding the necessary chemical elements present to produce a crystal is uncommon. In the series What Remains, I juxtapose two crystalline materials, bone and laboratory-grown crystal masses, to create a conversation between the actual and the desired. 
/Chantal Gushue

CV