Issues that affect women, particularly within the domestic domain and grind of daily life, motivate me to create installation and performance projects.

 My French Canadian heritage and the pioneering spirit of my grandmothers and great aunts, along with my own childhood memories of growing up with three sisters in an insular francophone environment, provide sources for my creations. Aunty Jim, constructed of knitted panels and buttons, relates to the idea of comfort, security but also an escape from the everyday world. Sunday Best, fashioned from the daily newspaper, bearer of world events, good and bad, mostly bad, highlights the incongruity of the pristine ‘Sundays only’ outfit and the calamities of the week. Newsprint is a viable material for fashioning garments, and turns public, political, social statements into expressions of personal identity.  I use traditional women’s skills of pattern design, sewing and mending to construct my garments. These two pieces were accepted for the juried exhibition entitled Wearable Art Awards in Port Moody, BC in October 2005.

I have been included in numerous group exhibitions and have had two solo exhibitions at La Maison des Artistes in St. Boniface, Manitoba. Parler d’elles…(2004) involved the creation of multiple soft sculptures in the shape of tea sets fashioned from domestic materials (icing, crocheted yarns, lace, wax) that symbolize different aspects of the female persona. La Dictée/The Lesson (2006) consists of an installation and performance that reinterprets a traditional 1950s classroom environment with two rows consisting of 30 beribboned hats fashioned for the model schoolgirl. In this work I explore the impact of religious and family education on my generation and previous generations of young girls constrained by rigid traditional female roles. Both exhibitions feature audio recordings of women telling their personal experiences of growing up in a restrictive environment. My current project, Shades of Red, continues to focus on issues of domesticity and identity. This progressive project consists of large panels knitted on my knitting machine in varied shades of red yarn. New panels are assembled to the main piece with the collaboration of participants doing the hand sewing. Each stitch represents a person in society. The red color is used to symbolize human blood, human effort, and the vital forces that link mankind. The objective is to create one large knitted piece that will occupy a large space drawing the viewer to a comfortable, warm and secure surface. 

My artistic expression is informed by a passion for my language and my culture, and a great respect for the privileged relationship that I have with my mother. Within this context, my work can be viewed as a feminist critique of the issues and challenges that women, particularly francophone women, have faced and continue to face every day.

Born in Saskatchewan in 1947, Colette Balcaen has roots in France and Québec. Since the age of 3, she has called Manitoba her home. Her life in Manitoba and a long career as a primary teacher provided many occasions to express her creativity. Upon retiring in 2003, she founded an art school for francophone children: L’école des jeunes artistes. Colette has completed her Fine Arts at the University of Manitoba in 2005. She specializes in drawing, sculpture, mixed media installations and performances. Her passion and skills in knitting, crocheting and sewing have led her to create soft sculptures that poetically and poignantly express not only her childhood memories, but also her situation as a woman wanting to preserve her culture. 

232, rue Notre Dame
Winnipeg, MB R2H 0C3
(204) 233-3052
colette_balcaen@shaw.ca

Edith, found objects.

Gabrielle Roy, no sew quilt.

Ma tante Jim, wearable art.

Shades of Red.

Sunday Best, wearable art.

The Lesson, installation.