MILLA GAUTHIER
BIO
My name is Milla Gauthier, I am currently studying studio art at Concordia University. I was in a visual arts focused program in high school and studied cinema and communication at Dawson college before making my way to concordia after a gap year. I was born in Hong Kong to an Italian mother and a Quebecois father, both expats who met studying Chinese. Our family moved to Montreal when I was 7, where I had to quickly adapt and learn French.Almost every year I spend a chunk of time visiting my grand-parents in the small northern Italian town where my mother grew up. I have always been drawn to making art, using all its many forms as a way to make sense of my identity and, as I grew up, my experiences as a queer young adult.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I am a multidisciplinary artist based in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal. I have a particular interest in fibre arts, print, and most recently ceramics. The themes I explore in my art have always been centered around identity. As a third culture kid I am fascinated by the way my upbringing has shaped me and the ways in which childhood bleeds into adulthood.As a queer person with a fluid grasp of my gender identity, I like to explore what it means to be a person that was assigned female at birth. I have many times over attempted to deconstruct my experience of girlhood and how that experience leaves me intrinsically linked with my femininity despite my gender identity. I incorporate a lot of whimsy and humour into my art. I find humour to be a powerful tool when wanting to explore any given serious topic. I want to invite people into my work with a laugh or a smile.