Quebec-Based Artist Uses Meaning and Purpose to Inspire Unique Renditions of Chair Designs
Multidisciplinary artist Caroline Monnet finds inspiration for her work from her indigenous heritage
Caroline Monnet, who hails from Quebec, is shown seated on her premier chair design. Stories from her Indigenous Anishinaabe heritage provided inspiration for the sculptural form. | Photo ANDRÉ RIDER
Sometimes a chair is just a chair, and sometimes it is much more than just a place to sit. As history can attest, decades after Eero Saarinen created his single-form Tulip chair, it remains a breakfast-room staple, and Charles and Ray Eames’ eponymous design likely forever changed the way we sit. Montreal-based artist Caroline Monnet is hoping her sinuous rendition will emerge as a statement maker as well. Widely known for her work as a filmmaker, Monnet turned to her Anishinaabe heritage and stories from the Indigenous people of the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States for her first foray into sculpture.
The collaboration with Humble Nature was part of a year- long design process that began with drawings eventually translated into 3D renderings like those shown here. | Photo ANDRÉ RIDER
“Growing up, our identity as Indigenous people wasn’t hidden, but it wasn’t celebrated either,” explains Monnet, who collaborated with Humble Nature, a Quebec-based business that brings unique pieces like hers to the marketplace. “I started making art to find a sense of identity and reclaim the language and stories that are part of my background.” One such tale involves a strong and wise beaver who in a moment of frustration slapped its giant tail with such force that the hills of the Outaouais region of western Quebec were formed. Those curves informed the limited-edition pieces—there is a complementary table—that are the basis for the aptly named Amik (Anishinaabe for beaver) collection. Monnet explains, “The intention was to feel that the chair is alive and bring that sense of the undulating beaver tail to the design.”
About working with Monnet, Valérie Guilmette, vice-president of Humble Nature, says, “Her character, her message, her art, and her commitment are, for us, the perfect combination of our generation, which combines modernism, the past and the present.” | Photo ANDRÉ RIDER
From concept to reality was a year-long process: It started with sketches, which eventually turned into computer renderings, followed by a 3D printed version that fabricators relied on to follow the lines and cut the curves. “It was very complex because every curve is different and maintaining the organic movement of the chair was essential,” says Valérie Guilmette, vice president of Humble Nature. She notes that it took six months to find the ash wood to complete the design. “Wood is a very important material in Anishinaabe territory, and working with locally sourced products was an absolute must. The use of ash represents nature and the ground where it comes from.”
The curves of the chair mimic the hills of Quebec’s Outaouais region, and the table provides a complementary form. The chair and table set are part of the Amik (Anishinaabe for beaver) Collection. | Photo ANDRÉ RIDER
The resulting chair—a perfect merger of form and function—is both aesthetically stunning and a welcoming place to rest. “I used the curve to make it multifunctional and multigenerational,” says Monnet, who envisioned children playing underneath it while an elder relaxes in the curve. “It was my intention to have it feel like the chair is alive.”
“It has always been an ambition of mine to showcase my art through a piece of furniture. To tell a story in a different light to give meaning and purpose to something tangible,” Monnet says. | Photo ANDRÉ RIDER
With plans to make five of each (it takes one month to complete a chair-and-table set), both parties agreed that a percentage of the proceeds should go to Mikana, an Indigenous nonprofit organization that works for social change by raising awareness of the realities of Indigenous people. “We are also looking at future variations of the chair, perhaps in other materials that will allow us to reach a wider audience,” says Guilmette. But for now Monnet is content to have achieved her goal of doing more than just making a beautiful object. As she explains, “The pieces are grounded in history. They are authentic and tell a story, and that gives them meaning.”
The ash wood grain is highlighted in her work. | Photo ANDRÉ RIDER
