Bénédicte Parmentier

Bénédicte Parmentier was born in 1977 in Picardy, France, land of battlefields and multiple invasions. Over the years, Picardy has guided and nourished the artist’s approach to her work. The artist carries out a memory of her birthplace by giving a voice to lost souls, families torn apart, exiled individuals and sacrificed lands.

Parmentier began studying ephemeral architecture in Paris and later studied set design, which had a major impact on her enduring artistic practice. She received her baccalaureate degree from the University of Québec in Montreal, the place where she currently lives and works. She uses the creativity and skill she gained from her studies to work professionally designing stage sets and life-sized puppets. 

Her work in model-making eventually led to the development of a series of figures inspired by early twentieth-century porcelain dolls. A self-taught sculptor, Parmentier’s theatrical figures represent concepts of loneliness, isolation, and exile as a mechanism of no return.  These concepts are derived from a foundation of the history of humanity and solitude.

Bénédicte Parmentier’s figures are comprised of both raw and delicate materials. The roughness of the clay, plaster, cotton, and metal is contrasted with the sleekness of the gold-leaf, patina of porcelain, and brass. At times, the artist also incorporates antique objects into her compositions; these objects at one time served a practical function, but are given new life in her sculptures.

The detail and precision with which she creates her figures adds to their intrigue. Her history in theatre is expressed in her work, whether through the costumes, elaborate headdresses or masks, one gets a sense of the surreal and dramatic. Parmentier encourages the viewer to enter another dimension by inviting them to connect to the emotions and narratives of her characters. Whether she is depicting an androgynous human figure or a surrealist animal-hybrid, her pieces take on a life of their own and look outside the box of typical sculpture.