Workshop-shop muz production | Decoration like no other

Isabel Morin
Pres

We’re at the heart of designer and visual artist Nathalie Collette’s whimsical haunt. Lively, flat, the designer presents his treasures with renewed enthusiasm with each item. Here, stuffed animals from Sweden rub shoulders with porcelain vulvas. On the wall, animals in ruffles are displayed on plates in an offbeat “Bridgerton” style.

Strange fauna stares at visitors, be it fine china, handmade soaps or deliciously kitsch bathing caps brought back from Athens by the owner.

In this eclectic cave, styles and eras co-exist – objects with different uses and prices, each with its own little story.

“When I find something that you don’t see in everybody’s house, I feel like I’ve made a discovery,” he says with obvious satisfaction. If it was more represented in Montreal, I wouldn’t do it. »

Seeing her sets and the particular atmosphere emanating from them inspired her to explore this path with those around her. Therefore, the idea of ​​a warm workshop-boutique began to mature, which brings together in one place, many items that can be presented or given as a gift: a long-term dream to play with, small, desired. Merchant.

Nathalie Collette did not always give free rein to her artistic approach. “As a little girl from the mountains,” she says of her childhood in a village in the Alps, the design is brought to life in another stratosphere. “It took me a long time to accept that I am an artist. » After marketing studies and a career in voice OffShe dared.

Mūz is the result of his efforts at playgrounds and flea markets, on the Internet, or while traveling. There, too, he mixes his skills with those of local artisans. “My mother puts everything she loves here, and I love everything she offers,” says Coco, one of her four daughters, who joined her on this “Muzeel” adventure in the spring. At the back of the complex, in a small workshop, mother and daughter explore their artistic talents, the first in recycled materials, the second in a pop art style.

Most of the lamps offered in the store are made by Nathalie Collette. There is also some furniture. The artist builds with things like a truck shock absorber, metal barrel, paper pulp, exhaust pipe or fake fur. These salvaged materials are reincarnated under his hand in canvases, buffs, side tables or massive suspensions.

Nathalie Collette works with gouache on canvas these days. “I pick it up and then put it down without thinking. It’s a complete abstraction of the mind and I’ve been able to learn artistically,” he describes while handling the material. This exercise gives birth to childish characters noticed by fair judges. Together we are art, which will be presented in New York this fall. “I could never have imagined that it would be displayed in such a prestigious place,” he notes.

After all, the designer describes himself as a creator and one of those who see beauty everywhere… even in spring, a car continues its existence in an unusual way, once converted into a bedside table. “Creation never left me. For a problem, there is always a solution. In the end, it’s good! »