La première fois - The First Time:
Mel Arsenault, Trevor Baird, Élise Provencher, Susan Collett, Shary Boyle, Dominique Sirois, Rebecca Ramsey, Philippe Caron Lefebvre, Linda Swanson, Kristen Morgin, Emily Yong Beck et Kuh Del Rosario

From September 13 to October 25, 2025

Galerie Nicolas Robert is pleased to collaborate with Mel Arsenault, artist and curator, to present the gallery’s first group ceramics exhibition.

There are few materials as alive and versatile as clay. An inexhaustible tool for creation, constantly testing its own limits, it maintains an intimate relationship with the body that shapes it, unfolding in gestures of collaboration or resistance. Tactile, contradictory, and surprising, ceramics can be understood as a tangible and conceptual entanglement: the hand engages as much as the imagination. Its dynamic nature, often following stubborn trajectories, requires navigating both extreme precision and unpredictability.

La première fois – The First Time brings together the work of twelve artists whose distinct methodologies shape the singular languages of the medium, transforming clay into vases, plumbing, trompe-l’œil, narrative objects, or even chemical experiments. Through techniques such as drawing, collage, nerikomi, and raku, the exhibition highlights the endless possibilities that arise when earth meets fire.

Artist and curator Mel Arsenault was drawn to the contrasting proposals offered by an intergenerational group of artists, from here and abroad, guided by a strong intuition to highlight frank and bold voices. Guided by a spirit of admiration and exchange, the artists trace a wide spectrum of ceramic practice. The title La première fois – The First Time reflects both Arsenault’s first curatorial project and the gallery’s first group exhibition of ceramics, while also evoking the strong impression these works can make upon their initial encounter. The works of Trevor Baird, Élise Provencher, Susan Collett, Shary Boyle, Dominique Sirois, Rebecca Ramsey, Philippe Caron Lefebvre, Linda Swanson, Kristen Morgin, Emily Yong Beck, and Kuh Del Rosario are brought together not for their similarities but for the singularity of each artist’s vision. (Text by Joséphine Rivard)

Trevor Baird (Montreal) experiments with form, humour, and material in ceramics, creating works that balance everyday aesthetics and the absurd, inviting curiosity and surprise.

Mel Arsenault (Montreal) explores hybridity, transformation, and the intelligence of matter through ceramics, producing sculptural forms that reveal both fragility and resilience.

Kristen Morgin (Los Angeles) transforms clay and found materials into objects resembling weathered toys, books, and everyday items, reflecting on memory, nostalgia, and the passage of time.

Emily Yong Beck (Chicago) reimagines popular culture in ceramics, using vibrant forms and motifs to examine queerness, representation, and power while embracing playful, subversive possibilities.

Linda Swanson (Montreal) investigates transformation, impermanence, and natural processes in ceramics, creating works that reveal how matter records time, change, and environmental forces.

Philippe Caron Lefebvre (Montreal) works in ceramics to explore form, texture, and narrative, producing objects that balance material constraints with creative freedom and conceptual depth.

Rebecca Ramsey (Alberta) examines abstraction, materiality, and the interplay between form and surface in ceramics, experimenting with texture, layering, and colour to create dynamic works.

Élise Provencher (Montreal) investigates repetition, rhythm, and material transformation in ceramics, experimenting with pattern, texture, and form to explore perception and tactility.

Kuh Del Rosario (Montreal) explores hybridity, identity, and cultural narratives in ceramics, combining sculptural forms and surface interventions with conceptual rigour and playful experimentation.

Susan Collett (Toronto) challenges the boundaries of form and function in ceramics, producing works that merge technical mastery with imagination, wit, and narrative complexity.

Shary Boyle (Toronto) transforms figurative and fantastical imagery into ceramics that explore emotion, storytelling, and psychological depth, blending delicacy with intensity.

Dominique Sirois (Montreal) experiments with ceramics to explore perception, space, and materiality, producing works that engage viewers through colour, form, and immersive presence.