Originally from Montreal, Quebec, Rachelle Chinnery has made Vancouver her home for the last five years. Coming from a multicultural and multilingual background, she once aspired to being a language teacher. After pursuing a degree in Spanish and French with a minor in Anthropology, Rachelle went to Japan to gain teaching experience and discovered the earth as an expressive medium. The clay culture in Japan set her irrevocably on the ceramic path. After four years of part-time apprenticeship in Tokyo, Yokohama and Kitakyushu, she returned to Canada to study first at the Sheridan College of Art and Design in Oakville, Ontario, then at The Emily Carr School of Art and Design. She now works from her home in East Vancouver.
The physical geography of British Columbia is the central influence in her work. Her sculptural vessels and carved functional ware emulate forms found in nature, particularly on the beaches of the West Coast. An avid kayaker, Rachelle goes on extended yearly pilgrimages into the ocean wilderness. These trips are the well-source of her inspiration.

Artist's Statement

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