Laurie Boisvert is a Port Joli, Nova Scotia based artist producing contemporary lockets, containers and jewellery.
Hailing from Saskatchewan, Laurie started her creative journey by studying Theatre Design at the University of Regina. From there she completed an arts degree specializing in sculpture at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.
Since graduating, Laurie has rediscovered her interest in small, intimate objects kindling a passion for her jewellery making which can be divided into two categories: the fun and the significant. Fun work uses non-jewellery materials to enhance exuberance and diminish the pretention of preciousness. But fun is never to be had at the cost of clean lines or strong form. Each piece needs to stand on its own, on or off the body.
Laurie works with precious metals such as sterling silver, gold and accents her pieces with traditional precious stones. Having said that, she also fearlessly experiments with alternative accents such as natural materials and plastics.
“As a child I fell in love with the French fairy tale “The White Cat” I was fascinated by the gifts the white cat gave, which were housed in a nesting series of smaller and smaller nutshells”, says Boisvert. “The magic of this unveiling has not diminished for me and as a metal smith I try to bring this sense of wonder to my work”.
Laurie’s “significant” work often deals with ideas of containment, concealment and revealed secrets. This is especially apparent in her lockets with their inclusion of personal objects and seemingly common trinkets. She foregrounds the friction created by the public presentation of an object saturated with undisclosed significance.
“My interest in the “object within” naturally led to the locket making” adds Boisvert. “I started making funerary lockets, and was immediately enthralled by the possibility of commemorating a life, a love, a relationship in an object which could be held in one’s palm”.
Laurie’s favorite charities include:
- The Nova Scotia Nature Trust
- The Nature Conservancy of Canada
- The Canadian Cancer Society
- The Victoria Order of Nurses
- The Heart and Stroke Foundation
