Montreal-based artist Laurent Craste nails vases to walls, hammers them, and subjects them to various kinds of torture in his playful series Abuse. Inspired by 18yh and 19th century sculpture and decorative arts, the artist change the shape and form of the decorative objects, infusing them with a cartoonish features.
At the heart of my artistic pursuit is the decorative object. My research centers on conceptual explorations of the multiple layers of meaning of decorative collectibles, in their sociological and historical dimensions, and also in their ideological and aesthetics ones. This approach takes its form in the re-appropriation of historical ceramic archetypes. My research considers the object as a social indicator, a “sign bearer”. Considered as instruments of political power, ideological vehicles, demonstrations of ostentatious luxury and economic power, but also as incarnations of emotions and experiences, the historical archetypes of decorative arts consummately provide me with useful material. – Laurent Craste
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Images courtesy of Laurent Craste, see more of his work on www.laurentcraste.com
