French-born, Montreal-based artist, Laurent Craste's career path was an unlikely one, originally having studied Veterinary Medicine and receiving a Master's in Anatomy and Physiology. But in 1997 he received the Professional Degree in Ceramics by the Centre de Céramique Bonsecours in Montreal before receiving a Masters in Fine Arts from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), graduating with first class honors. His work, "focuses on the exploration of the multiple layers of meaning of decorative objects: ideologically, aesthetically, and through their sociological and historical dimensions," as he states and this is easily seen in his multidimensional art.

He has been a finalist and has won numerous awards and grants, such as the Winifred Shantz Award in 2002 and a Grant from the Canada Council for the Arts in 2014. Craste has also been a jury Member for the prix Paul-Émile-Borduas awarded by the Government of Quebec and has been a Guest lecturer many times over.

Numerous private and public collections house his works (such as the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Public collection of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Canada, and Claridge collection, among others) and he has participated in group and solo exhibitions around the world, in Canada (Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Tom Thomson Art Gallery in Owen Sound, Ontario), the United States (Museum of Moving Image, New York), Europe (Cité de la Mode et du Design, Paris) and Asia (Cheongju International Craft Biennale, Korea) among many others.

Text by Sara Panagiotopoulou