Michel Bachelet
Michel Bachelet (born in France) lives in the eastern townships, Quebec. Bachelet is a traditional cabinet maker who utilizes branches in his furniture designs. Since 2004, he has been experimenting with creating sculptures in the landscape and has participated in a number of land art festivals and in situ biennales in Canada, France and Belgium as an individual artist and with the artist collective Zoné Vert, including Symposium d’art in Situ, Val David Québec (2013); FieldWork, Maberly, Ontario (2014); Entrelacs, Villeneuve d’Ascq, France (2014); Sporen, Ypres Belgique (2014); Sentier des Arts, Royan, France (2014), and; Créations sur le champ Land Art, St. Hilaire Québec (2014).Traditional cabinet making has filled my daily life for quite some time. Through the years, I crossed paths with other artisans such as: blacksmiths, glass makers, makers of ceramics and visual artists. These contacts stimulated fruitful exchanges not only on how raw materials are transformed but also reflected on the history of ancient artisanal methods and their possible future.
Using these accumulated experiences as a background, I am currently exploring the more graphic utilization of wood. I am investigating the dormant possibilities inherent in the lesser noble wooden products, such as branches. By playing with multiple textures, I integrate these materials in a more contemporary architectural sense. A space that allows inanimate elements to come to life, creating movement, flux and tension. I further punctuate my work with the way the light plays on and throughout each piece, sometimes making them pop out of the landscape. I am equally concerned with how my work is incorporated in the environment and how it works with or against the composite ingredients of the local landscape.
For more information about Michel and his works, please visit his website at www.zonevert.ca.
