Where You Stand the Ground Remembers brings together artists Cassi Camille, Sam Duquette, Elodie Dubuc-Bernard, Owen Herlin, Sara Mericle, and Kimberly Orjuela, members of the Montreal-based collective Everything Already Present. Presented as part of the 6th Virginia McClure Ceramics Biennial and in anticipation of the Visual Arts Centre’s 80th anniversary, the exhibition responds to a question: “What would a visual arts centre founded today look like, and what concerns should guide it?” In response, the collective places ecological responsibility at the heart of its reflection.
Rooted in a shared commitment to sustainable ceramic practices, the exhibition explores relationships between human beings and the environments they inhabit. Through research based on reclaimed materials, wood ash, and locally gathered clays from the landscapes of Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang and beyond, the artists examine the environmental impacts of resource extraction while exploring more reciprocal ways of relating to the land.
Bringing together six distinct, personal, and political perspectives on identity, women’s rights, environmental justice, and the erasure of cultural histories, the exhibition creates a space for dialogue around contemporary social and ecological issues. Considering clay both as a material and as a research tool, Where You Stand the Ground Remembers invites us to reflect on our relationship to place and on the responsibilities that accompany the ways we create, use resources, and return to the earth.
In addition to their individual works, the exhibition includes a collaborative piece, accompanied by a resource booklet sharing the recipes developed by the artists for gathering, processing, and reusing local materials.
the artists
Everything Already Present is a collective of six ceramic artists (Kimberly Orjuela, Cassi Camille, Sara Mericle, Sam Duquette, Élodie Dubuc-Bernard, and Owen Herlin) who bring together diverse perspectives and experiences to explore issues central to contemporary ceramics. Having first connected at Concordia University, the collective formed around a shared commitment to developing and supporting initiatives that strengthen community while advancing conversations around sustainability. Their work includes community outreach, fundraising in support of ceramic education, peer-to-peer knowledge sharing, and the development of more sustainable material research and practices within institutional settings.
Cassi Camille is an interdisciplinary artist of Haitian and Québécois descent based in Montreal (Tiohtià:ke / Mooniyang). A graduate of Concordia University’s ceramics program, her practice explores existence, ritual, ancestry, community, and cycles of time. Through sculpture, relief, and material experimentation, she engages with memory, resilience, intergenerational trauma, and the joy of diasporic communities.
Sam Duquette is a multidisciplinary artist based in Montreal (Tiohtià:ke / Mooniyang). A graduate of Concordia University’s ceramics and sculpture program in 2024, she works at the intersection of craft, research, and archival practices. Her practice explores the connections between materiality, archaeological heritage, and identity, with a particular interest in gender fluidity and trans experiences.
Elodie Dubuc-Bernard is a ceramic artist based in Montreal (Tiohtià:ke / Mooniyang). A graduate of Concordia University in 2024, she explores relationships between nature and culture through local clay, ash, and reclaimed materials. Inspired by gardens and landscaping, her practice examines the boundaries we construct between the natural and the cultural.
Owen Herlin is an artist based in Montreal (Tiohtià:ke / Mooniyang) whose practice combines ceramics, zines, clothing, and creative reuse. A graduate of Concordia University’s ceramics program in 2024, they work with local and reclaimed materials to explore ecological temporalities, erosion, and the transformations of the built world. Their work also considers the movement of materials through a world shaped by extraction.
Sara Mericle is a ceramic artist based in Montreal (Tiohtià:ke / Mooniyang). A graduate of Concordia University’s ceramics program in 2024, her practice explores fragility, permanence, and the transformations of ecosystems. She works with local clay and ash as well as fragments of reclaimed ceramics, seeking to restore value to discarded materials and develop slower, more sustainable modes of making.
Kimberly Orjuela is a visual artist born in Colombia and based in Montreal (Tiohtià:ke / Mooniyang). A graduate of Concordia University in 2023, she explores the restoration of ancestral and relational connections as forms of healing and resistance. Through terracotta sculpture and symbols drawn from pre-Columbian traditions, her work addresses decolonization, resilience, and contemporary environmental issues.
related workshops
about the biennale
The Virginia McClure Ceramic Biennale is dedicated to the celebration of excellence and innovation in contemporary ceramic art. For each edition of the Biennale, an invited curator is given carte blanche to organize an exhibition of outstanding work by artists in the expanded field of ceramics. Previous editions were curated by Jean Pierre Larocque (Caméléon, 2014), Linda Swanson (Épisode, 2016), Luc Delavigne (573°, 2018), Amelie Proulx (XYZ, 2021), and Leisure (Meredith Carruthers and Susannah Wesley) (Ceramics Friends, 2024).
The Biennale honours the legacy of Virginia McClure, a ceramic artist and early member of the Potters’ Club, which evolved into the Visual Arts Centre. Each Biennale includes public programming events and an accompanying publication.
