CHARETTE, Denis (1963)

Born in the Outaouais region, with Algonquian origins, Denis Charrette is a self-taught artist-sculptor who draws inspiration from his aboriginal culture. For him, sculpting is an artistic and spiritual activity. He is inspired by Algonquian legends, as well as nature, the elements and animals. To create his work, he uses diverse natural materials, including wood, stone, sand and snow. Since the beginning of the 2000s, the artist’s involvement in the local and national art scene has increasingly grown. He represented the city of Gatineau in Burnaby, British-Columbia for a cultural exchange between the two cities in 2000. Denis Charrette participated for five years in the national sand sculpture competition, the Wonders of Sand festival in Gatineau. In 2005, he earned a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts to study totem art in Western Canada. Upon his return, he put his acquired skills to practice on totem art by participating in several events, including the Montréal First Peoples Festival (2005-2008). During a commercial exchange between China and Canada in 2005, he exhibited at the aboriginal gallery Khewa in Quebec City. In 2006, his major works were shown at the Espace Pierre Debain in Gatineau. Over the course of his career, he created several pieces, included La rivières métisse (2008), influenced by Algonquian cosmogony, and Winibiki pinéci, l’oiseau tonnerre, a totem presented at the Omega Park in Montebello (2011).