CANDICE CROTET

Candice Crotet is an artist who grew up in the French countryside. As a child, she would dream up musical theatre scenes while cycling along the paths of her village, drawing the stories she imagined on her return home.

Growing up, she practiced abstract painting and photography. As a portraitist, she was aiming to bear witness to her daily life and capture the simple moments. After the arrival of social media, and simple photos documenting our day-to-day lives became commonplace, she ceased her activity for several years. During this latency period, she went from playing music to radio hosting, discovered her love of dance, and spent time exploring the outdoors.

In 2022, after her mother taught her the basics of sewing, she discovered quilting through the same social networks that had turned her off from photography. She fell in love with quilting immediately, particularly savoring the fact that she could share something with her mother. She tests on handmade quilts and strives to break the long-held codes of this traditional practice. Counting, sewing straight, ironing, and discipline are not her strengths... but sewing can also provide a home for the clumsy, like her. Emotions and the need to externalize are what guides her. The quilts are acidulous, pop’. The shapes are mainly handsewn, considerably reducing the time spent on the machine. She uses upcycled fabrics, from old clothes, gifts, flea market finds... The colors are important to her, as she chooses warm and joyful ones, contrasting with the subjects of the pieces. She reinvents pink - a color long rejected by internalized misogyny - using this color as a leitmotif in a process of re -appropriation.

Candice’s quilts also speak of envelopes, psyche containment, and bringing together the different parts of oneself. However, like the old tradition’s original purpose, it is also a quest for resilience and comfort.