Artistic approach

After obtaining his diploma as a certified ornamental blacksmith, Éric Maillet spent the next 15 years exploring the particular medium that is metal. Through his interest in archaeology and speleology, he has also acquired a strong sense of the past. By combining both passions, he has developed a particular style that strikes a chord in the public. The year 1997 marks the beginning of his success as a selling artist. 

His work is centred upon the creation of large pieces made up of washed-up or recycled materials. His projects are infused with an environmental and historic awareness. 

Diverse materials – rock, wood, bone – are blended into the iron to create novel, original art pieces.  From 1997 to 2003, Éric Maillet improves this technique and receives several orders, both from the public and the private sector. 

In 2003, his career is further advanced as he receives an invitation to create a public piece of art by the Congrès des plus belles baies du monde, a group made up of 15 countries. Along with Talo, a renowned Chilean artist and recipient of the UNESCO Picasso Medal, he creates L’envol.

A solo exhibit entitled Traces de cultures is presented at the Musée régional de la Côte-Nord during the summer of 2005. A total of 15 sculptures were presented under a common theme: exploring cultures from the past and present.  The exhibit was a success and allowed over 2,000 visitors to get to know the artist.

A second solo exhibit was organized in the summer of 2007 in collaboration with the CLD de la Haute-Côte-Nord. This exhibit was entitled L’art sort dans la rue and was quite unusual because the 11 sculptures were displayed in various public places from Tadoussac to Sept-Îles. The objectives of this project were two-fold: help the artist display his work and present an art event to a public that is located far from the usual art centres.

In recent years, Éric Maillet has been integrating new materials that are in line with his approach.  In 2006, he received financing from the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec to create a monumental piece made of granite. This artwork is now completed and underscores the numerous marine links between Sept-Îles and the rest of the world.

Currently, Éric Maillet is conducting research into ancestral techniques of bronze-making and is curious as to how prehistoric humans managed to create such beautiful pieces with very limited technological means.  His program in this project calls for a research into ancestral techniques and integration of these techniques into his art.

Once his research is complete, he will begin experimenting the techniques identified. Several pieces will then be created using both ancestral methods and a contemporary approach. The resulting artwork will be integrated into an exhibit called Empreintes mystiques at the Musée régional de la Côte-Nord at the end of 2008. This exhibit highlights the traces of Innu populations in the Côte-Nord region through their ancestral culture and legends, as well as traces of human forager tribes from prehistoric Europe.   

Éric Maillet’s work has always been associated with forged metal.  Given this particular approach, as well as the artist’s interest in ancient cultures, it is only fitting that he would try to learn the techniques developed during prehistoric times. Through his artistic approach, he also wishes to raise awareness on the vulnerability of surrounding ecosystems. Through this creative process, by using recycled materials, he hopes to trigger an individual and collective reflection on the means by which humans can preserve the beauty of the world.