Artist Statement

Carrie Perreault (she/ her) is a sculpture, performance and installation artist who uses material inquiry to reframe childhood trauma into a state of investigation. By surveying the work through a feminist approach to autotheory, Perreault temporarily suspends the doubt she has thrown into the stories she has told herself and instead articulates them by creating objects and installations that reflect these conceptual intensions. Her practice involves a mode of creation—embodied disassociation at times—that sits between emotional immediacy and a process of gathering what has been lost. Using repetition and the multiple as a meditative mechanism provides grounding. The groupings of objects that make up the individual artworks fend off ideas of scarcity and provide manageable space for frightening experiences.

Carrie Perreault’s recent exhibitions and projects include period of adjustment, Niagara Artists Centre, St. Catharines; and Show.19, Cambridge Art Galleries, curated by Iga Janik. In 2019, she published ‘period of adjustment’, a poster/pamphlet with essays by Sky Gooden and Lucy R. Lippard, and ‘The Artist Cookbook Vol. 1’, featuring 52 artist’s favourite recipes, with Vol. 2 set for release in Fall 2021. Perreault has received grants from the Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). She also serves as a member of the Executive Committee on the York South-Western Tenant Union. Carie Perreault lives and works in Toronto/Tkaronto.

Education

2021     Master of Fine Arts, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, CAN
2019     Certificate, Fundamentals of University Teaching Certificate, Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, CAN
2012     Bachelor of Arts, Honours, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, Brock University, St.Catharines, CAN
2010     Student exchange at Jai Hind College (University of Mumbai), Mumbai, IND (6 months)

Solo Exhibitions

2022    It’s a Thin Line
            Gallery Stratford, Curated by Evelyn Sorochan-Ruland, Stratford, CAN
2021    Pacing the House
University of Waterloo Art Gallery, Waterloo, CAN 
2019    period of adjustment
Niagara Artists Centre, Show Room Gallery, St.Catharines, CAN
2015    We've Forgotten Where are Hearts Have Been
Niagara Artists Centre, Member's Gallery, St.Catharines, CAN 
2014    Project Space
           +15 Window, The New Gallery, Calgary, CAN
2014    Little Tremors           
            Treasure Hill Artist Village,  Taipei, TWN 
2013    The Promise That Tomorrow Made Yesterday           
            Stantec Window Gallery, Toronto, CAN

Selected Group Exhibitions

2019    SHOW.19
            Idea Exchange, Curated by Iga Janik, Cambridge, CAN
2018    Grimsby Public Art Gallery Juried Exhibition
            Grimsby Public Art Gallery, Grimsby, CAN
2018    Glenhyrst Art Gallery Juried Exhibition
            Glenhyrst Art Gallery, Brantford, CAN
2016    The Last Things
            NAC Flea Market Gallery, Curated by Maggie Groat, St.Catharines, CAN
2016    Grimsby Public Art Gallery Juried Exhibition
            Grimsby Public Art Gallery, Grimsby, CAN
2016    Glenhyrst Art Gallery Juried Exhibition ** 2nd place
            Glenhyrst Art Gallery, Brantford, CAN
2015    Shifting Practices
            Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, St.Catharines, CAN
2015    Community Voices
            Contemporary Craft, PittsburghUSA
2015    Strange Beauty            
            
Tangled Art + Disability, Toronto, CAN
2015    You're Not Here
            Feminist Art Conference (OCADU), Daniel Spectrum, Artscape, Toronto, CAN
2015    Default Programming
            North York Arts, Toronto, CAN
2014    You Should Not Be Here
            Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, USA
2014    With my < >, Trade your < >
            Taipei Artist Village – Barry Gallery, TWN

Performances

2019   Cultivating and Practising Caring Futures: A Death Care Café
           Unifor National Chair in Social Justice and Democracy, Ryerson University, Toronto, CAN
2019    Performance. Concept & Creative Process, Multidisciplinary Creative Conference
Faculty of Music, University of Toronto, Toronto, CAN
2018   Deathnastics
           as part of Gymsick, curated by Hazel Meyer & Lucy Pawlak, Bunker 2 Contemporary Art Container, Toronto, CAN
2017   There Are Other Things We Can Talk About
           Festival of Performance Art, Hundred Dollar Gallery, Hamilton, CAN
2017    I Can't Do This On My Own
            Presented by Casino Artspace and Hundred Dollar Gallery, Hamilton, CAN
2015    I'm Ambitious When Giving Up
            Hundred Dollar Gallery, Hamilton, CAN
2014    Because Everyone Needs Their Hand Held Sometimes
            Window Gallery, YYZ Artist’s Outlet, Toronto, CAN
2014    Shifting Currents
            Gueishan Taoyuan, TWN
2013    Thinking the Unspeakable
            Sihanouk Boulevard, Phnom Penh, KHM
2013    I’m Ambitious When Giving Up
            Various locations around Phnom Penh, KHM

Additional Projects

2018     Visiting artist and Coordinator for Kids Fest, which took place at Giant Steps School for Tangled Art + Disability. Giant Steps is a school & therapy centre that builds the skills and abilities of children with autism through academics, specialized therapies, life skills and inclusion. This role included coordinating and reporting to funders, project budgeting, program development and providing a series of workshops over a 3-month period. The festival concluded with a fully accessible exhibition at Tangled Art + Disability Gallery, 401 Richmond St. W, Toronto. 

2017     Associate Producer for Abedar Kamgari’s durational performance-for-video The Journey West. The performance retells her experience as a refugee and immigrant. The 87km walk between Toronto and Hamilton covers the land between her two adoptive hometowns. 

2017     Coordinator for Tangled Art + Disability’s Kids Fest. The program led by Luca ‘Lazylegz’ Patuelli worked with students at Monsignor Percy Johnson Catholic High School and James Cardinal McGuigan Catholic High School. Students workshopped weekly with hip hop dancers to collaborate in creating a choreographed performance. The routine was presented at an interactive school assembly with a cohort of special guests.

Community

2021-2022 Community Living Ontario, Student Links Mentor, Toronto, CAN
2020-2022    York South-Weston Tenant Union, Executive Committee, Toronto, CAN
2020-2022    AWC Tenant Association, Co-Chair, Toronto, CAN
2020-2021  Graduate Student Association (GSA), University of Waterloo, Executive Graduate Student Relations Committee, Waterloo, CAN
2020-2021    Graduate Student Association (GSA), University of Waterloo, Councillor, Fine Arts, Waterloo, CAN

Artist Talks


2021 Pacing the House, University of Waterloo Art Gallery, Waterloo, CAN
2019 period of adjustment, in conversation with Eliza Chandler, Niagara Artists Centre, St.Catharines, CAN
2017    Residency Artist, Open Studio, Toronto, CAN
2015    Marilyn I Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, St.Catharines, CAN
2015    Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, USA
2015    Strange Beauty, Tangled Art + Disability Festival, Toronto, CAN
2014    Visiting Artist, Taipei Artist VillageTWN

Residences

2017     Open Studio, Jeannie Thib Mentorship Residency, Toronto, CAN
2015     The Banff Centre, BAiR Late Winter Intensive, Banff, CAN
2014     YYZ Artists' Outlet Lab, Summer Mentoring & Educational Residency, Toronto, CAN
2014     Taipei Artist Village, Taipei, TWN

Commissions

2015 Impossible Conversations, Strange Beauty, Tangled Art + Disability Festival, Toronto, CAN
2012 From Here to There and Back Again, NiagaraHERE, Department of Canadian Heritage—Cultural Capitals Program, St.Catharines, CAN

Teaching

2020    Appreciation & Expression Studio FINE 150, Instructor, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, CAN
2020   Fine Arts, Studio Foundations, FINE 100, TA (Eva McCauley), University of Waterloo, Waterloo, CAN
2019   Art History and Visual Culture VCULT/ FINE 101, TA (Bojana Videkanic), University of Waterloo, Waterloo, CAN

Publications

2021 Perreault, Carrie, editor. The Artist Cookbook Vol. 2. Perreault.
2019    Lippard, Lucy R., and Sky Goodden. period of adjustment, Perreault.
2019 Perreault, Carrie, editor. The Artist Cookbook Vol. 1. Perreault.
2014     Tanase, O. (2014, November 22). YYZLAB Touring Exhibition: Default Programming.
2013     Parayre, C., & Boldt, L. Figuring It Out: Disfigurement in Twentieth- and Twenty-First Century Art and Literature.
St.Catharines, Ontario: Niagara Arts Centre.
2012     Loughlin, I. (2012). Perceptionists: Three Responses to the Contemporary Challenges of Representation. Exhibition Catalogue.

Grant$ | Award$

2021 Catherine Bratty Award for Best of Art Fair, Toronto Outdoor Art Fair
2020    SSHRC J. Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship
2020    University of Waterloo, President’s Graduate Scholarship
2020    University of Waterloo, Keith and Win Shantz International Research Scholarship
2020    University of Waterloo, Graduate Scholarship, Department of Fine Arts
2018     Ontario Arts Council, Exhibition Assistance
2018     Canada Council for the Arts,  Professional Development Grant
2017     Toronto Arts Council, Emerging Artist
2016     Ontario Arts Council, Material Supplies Grant
2016     Canada Council for the Arts, Professional Development Grant
2015     Ontario Arts Council, Theatre Creator's Reserve
2015     Ontario Arts Council, Exhibition Assistance
2014     Ontario Arts Council, National & International Residency Grant
2014     Ontario Arts Council, Exhibition Assistance
2014     Ontario Arts Council, Action Research Grant
2013     Canada Council for the Arts, Travel Grant
2013     Ontario Arts Council, Exhibition Assistance

Juries

2019     Ontario Arts Council, Deaf and Disability Arts Projects: Materials for Visual Artists
2018     City of Hamilton, Tourism and Culture, City Enrichment Fund
2018     Ontario Arts Council, Chalmers Professional Development Projects
2016     Toronto Arts Council, Open Doors Project Grants
2015     Ontario Arts Council, Inaugural Deaf and Disability Arts Projects Grant

Press

2019 Gazzola, B. (2019, June 3). Open Secret: Carrie Perreault’s period of adjustment. The Sound
2017     Hampton, C. (2017, April 22). Ferment and fear at the Hamilton Biennale. The Toronto Star.
2015     Gazzola, B. (2015, October 8). Marilyn I. Walker School of Performing Arts Opens with Shifting Practices. The Sound.
2015     Fisher, L. (2015, April 7). Conversations with Strange Beauty: Carrie Perreault.
2015     Ukairo, C. (2015, March 28). Feminism Through Art.
2015     Von Lukawiecki, M. (2015, March 3). Brock photographers brought into focus. The Brock Press.
2012     Scappatura, A. (2012, April 18). Giving depression a voice. Niagara Falls Review.