Michel Fedak
Born on October 21, 1954 in Arvida.
Created his first works in the mid-1970s, and found himself following in the footsteps of his grandfather, who had created art by tinkering with all kinds of materials.
Began sculpting for fun while staying with his cousin, whose studio adjoined his bedroom.
Accumulated pieces until he worked up the courage to take them to be sold by an antiques dealer near Quebec City.
Has sculpted many fantastic works inspired by nature, although large cities remain an important source of inspiration.
Videos of Michel Fedak
My Beginnings
“I began to draw with my mother before elementary school. At the age of 10,
I won a drawing competition. My drawing came from my imagination, and everyone else drew reproductions. I made my first sculpture at 24. When you're young, however, you don't really know what you're doing. Folk art is more philosophical than technical. And I think that you need a certain amount of life experience to be able to sculpt.”
Creative Freedom
“All my life I've rubbed elbows with hard science. What I find incredible about folk art is that if you feel like making a cat that doesn't really look like a cat, it's no big deal! You've got the scope to create, you aren't limited to a specific style — you've got all the freedom you want. I don't want limitations. I don't want to be hemmed in. I don't want to feel that I have to arrive at this or that result.”
Folk Art
“Folk art is simple and straightforward, just as life should be. Appreciating folk art means accepting that things are actually quite simple. Appreciating folk art also means accepting imperfection and coming to love it. It's time folk art was recognized, as its name suggests, as a populist art form, equal to any other type of art: you either like it or you don't. What I like best about folk art is that I have the right to make mistakes. All of us are tasked with encouraging change through our artistic creations and achievements.”
Sharing My Memories
“When I shape a figure or an animal, I take care, first and foremost, to give them a soul. Shaping a work of art is, for me, an intimate activity. I would be unable to create whatever-it-is in front of others. When I'm alone in my windowless studio, I'm alone with myself; I delve into my own memories and discover some wonderful things. And this is what I express with my hands — I share my experiences. At home, surrounded by my creations, I feel like I'm living with an entire gang. That must be why I don't really feel the need to be with other people all the time.”
Michel Fedak
Gallery of Michel Fedak
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Michel Fedak and his father Adam on the family's Harley-Davidson. He was a year old. Adam was Polish and had married a girl from Arvida. It was feared that Adam would take his family back to the "old country" and that they would never be seen again.
Photo from Michel Fedak's collection
CMCC Archives
2009-H0015.1.3.2.2
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Michel on October 21, 1960. He was six years old.
Photo from Michel Fedak’s collection
CMCC Archives
2009-H0015.1.3.2.3
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Michel around 1965
Photo from Michel Fedak's collection
CMCC Archives
2009-H0015.1.3.2.4
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Michel, third from the left, had just won a drawing contest at his school in 1966. His teacher told him, "If you decide you want to draw for a living, you could sketch people in a courtroom!"
Photo from Michel Fedak’s collection
CMCC Archives
2009-H0015.1.3.2.5
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Michel and his girlfriend Louise — who would later become his wife — in 1975, at the end of the halcyon days of college.
Photo from Michel Fedak’s collection
CMCC Archives
2009-H0015.1.3.2.6
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Dog
1995
Painted wood
Marie-Louise Deruaz
CMCC IMG2008-0080-0089-Dm
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Peacock
2003
Painted wood
Marie-Louise Deruaz
CMCC IMG2008-0080-0090-Dm
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Great Blue Heron
2000
Painted wood
CMCC 2006.212.3
Marie-Louise Deruaz
CMCC IMG2008-0080-0101-Dm
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Girl with Bouquet of Flowers
2004
Painted wood
Marie-Louise Deruaz
CMCC IMG2008-0080-0084-Dm
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Sheep
2006
Painted wood, metal
Gift of the Artist
CMCC 2006.212.2 a–c
Marie-Louise Deruaz
CMCC IMG2008-0080-0088-Dm
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Three Nuns
2006
Painted wood
Gift of the Artist
CMCC 2006.212.1 a–c
Marie-Louise Deruaz
CMCC IMG2008-0080-0047-Dm
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Speckled Trout
2006
Painted wood
Marie-Louise Deruaz
CMCC IMG2008-0080-0069-Dm
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Kingfisher
2003
Painted wood
Marie-Louise Deruaz
CMCC IMG2008-0080-0070-Dm
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Clowns
2001
Painted wood
Marie-Louise Deruaz
CMCC IMG2008-0080-0080-Dm
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Freehand drawings — the seeds of future work.
CMCC Archives
2009-H0015.1.3.2.16
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Freehand drawings — the seeds of future work.
CMCC Archives
2009-H0015.1.3.2.17
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Freehand drawings — the seeds of future work.
CMCC Archives
2009-H0015.1.3.2.18
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Pattern for a skunk.
CMCC Archives
2009-H0015.1.3.2.19
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Pattern for a weasel.
CMCC Archives
2009-H0015.1.3.2.20
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Pattern for a kingfisher.
CMCC Archives
2009-H0015.1.3.2.21
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Pattern for a nurse.
CMCC Archives
2009-H0015.1.3.2.22
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Pattern for a mermaid.
CMCC Archives
2009-H0015.1.3.2.23
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Michel carving a mermaid in his studio.
Jean-François Blanchette, 2006
CMCC Archives
2009-H0015.1.3.2.24
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Michel carving a mermaid in his studio.
Jean-François Blanchette, 2006
CMCC Archives
2009-H0015.1.3.2.25
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Michel carving a cow in his studio.
Jean-François Blanchette, 2006
CMCC Archives
2009-H0015.1.3.2.26
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Michel carving a swimmer in his studio.
Jean-François Blanchette, 2007
CMCC Archives
2009-H0015.1.3.2.27
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Michel carving a swimmer in his studio.
Jean-François Blanchette, 2007
CMCC Archives
2009-H0015.1.3.2.28
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Five black crows wait in the sawdust for a breath of wind.
Jean-François Blanchette, 2006
CMCC Archives
2009-H0015.1.3.2.29
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