Mel Arsenault
Les Baumes Fractales

From February 27 to April 5, 2025

Galerie Nicolas Robert is pleased to present Les Baumes Fractales, a solo exhibition by Mel Arsenault. 

On her sculptural canvases, patterns morph and evolve as they blend with one another: the flower’s core spreads out somewhere in the sky, gold and concrete are in tune, and the stem meets the butterfly. So many humble patterns forming something baroque for a moment of enchanted candour.

After all, these fluorescent alloys, these desires for metamorphosis—aren’t they always at the heart of the matter? The observer doesn’t deny the pleasure in them, instead welcoming the quest, simple yet bountiful. They dive to scatter a screen of rustling leaves, to bathe in the city’s sunrays or follow along the curve of a rounded water – sea or small pond? For in these landscapes, remote jungles and boreal forests abound—especially gardens and flower beds, which the artist explored while wandering her Montreal neighbourhood.

Mel Arsenault holds a Master's degree in Sculpture and Ceramics from Concordia University, where she also earned a Bachelor's degree in Painting and Drawing. Her work has been featured in several group exhibitions and fairs across Canada, England, and the US. Recent solo exhibitions include Shifting Histories at La Guilde (2020), Le jardin des astrocytes at Galerie Nicolas Robert (2021), and Attendre dans le jardin des astrocytes que le matin revienne (2022). Arsenault participated in a residency at the Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Centre in Denmark and received the Outstanding Work and Meaningful Contribution to Ceramics award from Concordia University.