|2025| BONS VOISINAGES
PEONY : Aluminium, Akzo Nobel Aerospace paint.
Dimensions : 330 X 115 X 115 cm
HOUSE-MAN : cast bronse (man), aluminium and Akzo Nobel Aerospace paint (houses).
Dimensions : 455 X 185 X 115 cm
Des Canotiers elementary school, Municipality of les Cèdres (QC).
Here are two sculptures created in part through foundry processes (a cast in bronze figure and a stem cast in aluminum) at the Inverness Bronze Foundry.
The houses were fabricated from aluminum plates and welded together; the flower was also crafted from aluminum using metal-shaping (boilermaking) techniques. This work was carried out at Che Bourgault’s studio in Saint-Jean-Port-Joli.
Peony: 330 cm tall. The solid stem was cast in aluminum, molded from an actual twisted cedar tree (4 to 5 inches in diameter and 8.5 feet tall). The petals were shaped from aluminum. Materials: 5052-H32 aluminum (1/8 inch thick) and 6061-T6 aluminum (1/2 inch thick).
The House-Man: 455 cm tall, 185 cm wide. The figure was cast in bronze from a hand-carved wooden master; the figure’s thickness is 0.188 inches. The small houses are made from 6060-T6 and 5052-H32 aluminum plates, with thicknesses of 1/4 inch and 3/16 inch.
Paint used: AkzoNobel – Awlgrip.
The bronze patina was applied at the Inverness Bronze Foundry.
Anchoring: Each sculpture is secured by three long screw-in piles; the bronze base plate is mounted onto a triangular frame, which is then bolted to the piles.
The installation was managed by the Inverness Art Foundry.
The "house-man" figure evokes an architect—or perhaps a clown—stepped straight out of the world of childhood. The figure was first carved in wood and then cast, preserving clear traces of the craftsmanship—such as marks from gouges and a chainsaw—typical of Saint-Jean-Port-Joli. The flower’s stem was cast from an actual cedar tree found along the riverbank. It’s a delightful "mise en abîme" (a story within a story, or a reflection of the subject within itself) for a village aptly named Les Cèdres—"The Cedars"!
Photos : Michel Saulnier