Gabrielle De Montmollin

From the time I first found my own voice as an artist I have mostly used plastic toys and dolls in staged settings to create photographs in which I seek my own meanings and invite the viewer to find his or her own. My art is based on imagination and I am interested in story-telling, play and mystery.

An important element of my work has been the use of discarded, thrown-away dolls and toys which I buy in thrift stores. Recently I introduced precious, valued objects to mix in with my company of throwaways. Objects have secret lives which we can only guess at and treasured things have a great power to evoke feelings beyond themselves into other worlds.

I have exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Canada, the United States, Belgium, Italy, France and Netherlands. My most recent solo exhibition was at the Niagara Artists Centre in St. Catharines, ON, Canada, in 2021.