Photography
Alex Blouin
Date
14 September 2017
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Artist Dominique Pétrin on creating her very own domestic product

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Photography
Alex Blouin
Date
14 September 2017

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The Converse Lovejoy Art Benefit commissioned 49 original artworks that are on auction now via Paddle8 to raise funds for Artists For Humanity. It’s Nice That has teamed up with Converse to introduce some of the amazing artists contributing to the benefit, and to take a look behind the scenes of the great work that they do. In the third article It’s Nice That catches up with Dominique Petrin.

Despite being a multi-disciplinary artist, one format Dominique Pétrin has used, developed and mastered over the last 18 years is screen printing. The Canadian artist builds layers of geometric shapes in combination with hand-cut collage work to create a maze of interest. Dominique’s colour combinations are a key counterpart to the fizzing energy of her pieces, often placing pastels against just the right amount of a bolder shade.

The artist’s studio based in Montreal is a collage in itself. Completed works surround Dominique’s screen printer, which sits opposite a couch covered in a crochet blanket matching the colour palette of her works. Underneath, scraps upon scraps of screen print tests have built up to one day be discovered and used again. On the wall opposite sits a piece of paper covered in finger marks of paint shade tests, demonstrating how hands on the artist is.

The organised mess of her studio is an attribute that filters into Dominique’s works. Whether it be a singular print or a full scale installation, highly organised patterned frameworks are filled with diverse colours that are trippy to say the least. Dominique has contributed three of her silkscreen prints to Converse’s Lovejoy Art Benefit, an auction she wanted to be involved in as “it’s a great opportunity and a great cause”.

The pieces, Ara Hyacinthe, Ara Vert, and Concure, are taken from a series portraying different parrots. “When I made these prints I had just broken up with my band,” she tells It’s Nice That. “At the time, I could not use any narratives but patterns and parrots as subjects.” The simple subject of each print, elevated by the artist’s signature style, is purposeful. “I was trying to create the most generic artwork possible, like a poster you would buy at Walmart and get laminated. I wanted to make the most perfect artwork to fit in a living room.”

The home has been a regular setting and inspiration for Dominique’s works. For instance, her 2014 installations The Living Room & other displays and Living room no.1, a silkscreened paper installation that displays hints of her parrot series. Where her works have previously been inspired by household objects, ranging from plants to laptops, Dominique’s series for the Lovejoy Art Benefit sees the artist creating her very own domestic product.

“It’s a great opportunity and a great cause."

“It’s a great opportunity and a great cause."
Above

From Left, Dominique’s artworks: Ara Hyacinthe, Ara Vert and Concure

Inspired by “parrot jungle, Nickelodeon, theme parks, and The Price is Right,” Dominique’s silkscreen prints balance perfectly between garish and composed. On asking what the artist was trying to convey in the pieces she says: “When I was making these prints I absolutely didn’t want to communicate anything. Looking back at them, I can see a satire of the obsession from contemporary living in disguising our anxieties into home staging.” As a result the artist says each of the pieces “will fit really well with a ‘Klippan’ sofa and a ‘Lack’ table from Ikea”.

Dominique’s artworks have been exhibited across the globe, gaining countless accolades for their ability to transport you into a colourful dimension while remaining eerily familiar. By bidding on one of her screen prints, Converse offers the opportunity to have your very own portal to the artist’s vivid world.

All 49 original artworks created for the Lovejoy Art Benefit have been showcased at the Converse World Headquarters in Boston for the past year. Now they’re available to buy via online auction house Paddle8. All profits raised from the auction will be donated to Artists for Humanity, a Boston-based not-for-profit company whose mission is “to bridge economic, racial, and social divisions by providing under-resourced urban youth with the keys to self-sufficiency through paid employment in art and design.”

Visit the auction page here to see the full selection of artworks being auctioned for Artists for Humanity

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