About
About Andrea Cordonier
Artist’s Statement
I shoot to express, address and possess.
Each frame contains my curiosity, physicality and knowledge, each an idea or moment in time. Together, they form stories at the intersection of people, their homes and communities and omnipresent nature, constructed, and re-constructed, in the first and third person.
I work in colour and black and white, in documentary, editorial and abstract forms, in accord with each subject. I look, first, for beauty, but delight in ordered disorder, elements of surprise, and movement in repose. The narrative structure reveals itself through bold composition, careful juxtaposition, and select revelation, demanding a second and third look.
Artist’s Bio
A simple SLR and a high school darkroom clinched it for photographer Andrea Cordonier. She describes the urge to create as “a beautiful beast with a will of its own.”
Cordonier pursued photography as an avocation alongside consulting, community development projects and a return to school to study construction carpentry and green building.
She studied and observed and shot and edited her growing body of work, resulting in a substantial archive of images. She moved from film to digital and back to film, now graced with a 1957 Hasselblad gifted to her by a fellow enthusiast.
A year ago, Cordonier mounted her first solo exhibition, ELEMENTAL, with the purpose of learning the ropes as a professional artist.
IF I WAKE (LMNTL No. 2), her second exhibition, opens on September 16, 2018 and explores the incomparable role of nature in creativity, mental health and a life well-lived.
More than 800 editorial images accompany her writing at Habicurious.com. The content marks a synthesis of architecture, building, design, art and culture, nature, history and the psycho-social considerations of how and where we live.
Cordonier was part of the team from the Workers History Museum that photographically catalogued the networks of industrial buildings of the E.B. Eddy site /Domtar Lands (Ottawa River, between Ottawa, ON and Gatineau, QC) prior to their redevelopment. With a focus on detail, the project took 12 months to complete.
In 2018/2019, she looks forward to submitting to competitions, securing representation, showing in group and solo exhibitions, and identifying creative collaborations, especially those that combine photography with building/making, writing and/or community cultural development.
From Vancouver, Cordonier now lives in Burritt’s Rapids, a rural village on the Rideau River in the City of Ottawa.
Series/Exhibitions:
Elemental, 2017
If I Wake (LMNTL No. 2), opens 16 September 2018, Giardino Gallery, Carleton Place, ON
E.B. Eddy Industrial Site, Ottawa/Gatineau, Carleton University, 2016
Additional Information:
About Geronimo Coffee House & Gallery
146 Prescott Street
Kemptville, ON K0G 1J0
Tel: (613) 215-0401
Located 30 minutes from downtown Ottawa
Hours of Operation: Open 7 days a week until 4:00pm
The Owners: Terry and Lee are adorable not to mention unfailingly kind. Stepping through the front door of Geronimo is like entering their living room, a comfortable gathering place populated with a lively mix of locals and travellers. Take a seat at the bar for the best conversation you’ll have all week.
Food & Beverages: Serving all manner of coffee (the best in town!), specialty bottled drinks, locally blended tea, handmade sweets and savouries, breakfast sandwiches, lunches, soup and salads.
The Building: With soaring wooden ceilings, 70+ feet of exhibition space, including a gorgeous brick wall, classic wooden bar and oversized windows, Geronimo is the preferred cultural and social space in Kemptville. Tip: The sheltered, private patio out back is a hidden treat.
Parking: Free and on the street; additional parking behind the North Grenville Public Library on Prescott Street, just north of Geronimo.
Available Work
Available Work From This Exhibition
All prints produced by Dave Andrews at Digital Art & Restoration
Framing by Framed!
Please inquire for pricing
Elemental Images – Black & White (8)
Image size: 8″ x 12″ Framed: 18″ x 21.5″ Maple framing 1.25″ deep
See Bethesda Terrace’s Magical Minton Ceiling
Alberta’s badlands are one of the most physically striking and wondrous regions in Canada. A treasure trove of dinosaur bones, rocks and minerals, humans are mere ghosts in an ancient landscape measured in millions of years.
At Thirteen is rooted in primal fairytales of loss and struggle. Her first heels, make-up, and woman-dress, she teeters away from childhood. She may turn to look back, but there’s only one way to go: onwards.
It is August and hot as Hades. Vendors line the piazza outside the Coliseum. An Asian woman makes delights out of fresh palm leaves. You choose the one you like, she pops it in a plastic bag, inflates it with a humid breath, and ties it off with a filament of fibre. It is a wonder within a wonder.
Max finds his spark on the darkest night of the year.
After the rain has stopped and darkness has fallen, the wedding reception spills out of the community hall and into the backyard. The woman with the vintage ice cream cart dispenses itty-bitty bowls of happiness.
On this morning in March a foot of snow fell and Manhattan was not itself. It was possible to cross the streets without looking either way. There were dog sleds in Central Park and locals hugging on sidewalks. A robber gave up on robbing and disappeared in a snow bank. It was New York in muted, dreamy slow-mo.
At Second Beach pool in Stanley Park a crow waits patiently for his turn. Out of sight on the right side of the photo is a drinking fountain. When the boy is gone, he will hop down for a sip of fresh water then return to his post.
There are additional images available in this series.
Ferry Hair Series
(1 of 4 images shown here, framed together)
Image size: 8″ x 12″ Framed: 18″ x 60.5″ Maple framing 2.25″ deep
Ferry Hair is what happens when you mix Bella, a boat and a breeze. Part living sculpture, part spontaneous madness, it’s a bit of fun that reflects the love/hate relationship we have with our hair.
Drive-By Shooting Saskatchewan
(5 images = 2 diptychs + 1)
Image 1:
Size: 12.5″ x 19.25″ Mounting: Glass faced on aluminum frame (full bleed)
Images 2 – 5:
Size: Diptych 1 & Diptych 2: each is 21.75″ x 59.75″ Mounting: Glass faced on aluminum frame
All depths are 1.75″
See Drive-By Shooting, Saskatchewan Style
There are additional images available in this series.
Blog
Elemental Opening Day
When you attend an indoor art exhibition, the weather outside isn’t particularly critical. But when you’re serving two kinds of gelato cones to guests (as well as prosecco, tiramisu cheesecake, biscotti, lattes, espresso and Italian sodas) it’s a nice touch when it’s a brilliant warm and sunny day (it was) and they can socialize on …
Elemental Thanks
Conceiving and organizing this show presented a great opportunity for me to begin to learn the biz from the ground up. These are the people who showed me great kindness, who answered my endless questions and provided physical and mental labour to bring my first solo exhibition to fruition. This was a Big Deal and …
Installing Elemental
I don’t know why I should be surprised. Even when I’m uber-organized and have adequate time to complete a task, I rarely get done before the exact moment the clock runs out. It is the day before ELEMENTAL opens and, sure enough, we begin installing in the daylight but finish in the darkness. I’ve consulted …
Contact
Thank you for your interest in ELEMENTAL and the photographic work of Andrea Cordonier. Please get in touch if you have any questions, wish to purchase work or discuss future installations.
Andrea Cordonier
andrea@habicurious.com
Social Media & Website:
FACEBOOK PAGE – @ElementalPhotographic
WEBSITE – www.elementalphotographic.com