Bio
Grelin Machin is a Montreal based artist who mostly works with acrylics on wood. After a degree in graphic design, she chose to focus on her personal artworks. Her work revolves around happy nostalgia, evoking fond recollections of childhood where the sight of a sweet treat and the presence of a small creature were enough to fill our hearts with pure delight and amazement. Using elements such as borders, compositions and decorative ornament, she creates small windows on a surreal world where flowers, candy and small animals are the companions of this journey.
Nature and flora always surrounded me from the start. I grew up in a small town in Canada with lots of vacant fields. They were our playground when I was a kid. Hours and hours to observe nature, animals and insects. I was living next to my grandmother who was gardening a lot and she taught me the love for growing things.
Plants and flowers are synonyms to happy and peaceful memories. I hung to them since I am a very nostalgic person and am disappointed by society as it is today. Everything is so fast, so clean, sanitized and soul-empty. I don’t share an amazement for human technology and creation such as buildings or hi-tech cars. I find more beauty in a single leaf than anything that humans could create.
In that sense, I share some points of view with the philosophy of Arts and Craft. They vowed to return to a simpler, more fulfilling way of living, running away from an impersonal, mechanized society in the 19th century. You won’t find humans in my art (unless it's a child because they represent a sensible creature with so much imagination). You won’t find modern life symbols such as cell phones or TV. I prefer to create and surround myself with images from the past. As I said, I am nostalgic.
The use of elements of retro advertising such as borders, compositions and decorative ornament plays a good part in my art. Since the beginning, humans have ornate their creations with symbols and patterns as a way to elevate their pieces or to tell stories. In my paintings, they frame the picture in the center, creating a small window open on a surreal world where everything is allowed, where any creature is safe to exist.
Nature deserves to be respected and celebrated, especially in an era where it is disappearing under our eyes while nothing is done to stop it.
Exhibit
UPCOMING
Follow the Universe, WOW x WOW Gallery, Online Exhibition, Mar 2025
With Love, Your Biggest Fan 5, Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, PH, Feb 2025
2024
Revival, WOW x WOW Gallery, Online Exhibition, Dec 2024
Small Wonders 13, Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, PH, Nov 2024
The Everything Hum, WOW x WOW Gallery, Online Exhibition, Oct 2024
WOW², WOW x WOW Gallery, Online Exhibition, Sept 2024
Silent Soliloquies, WOW x WOW Gallery, Online Exhibition, Aug 2024
Monochromagic 7, WOW x WOW Gallery, Online Exhibition, July 2024
Brings May Flowers 2, Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, PH, May 2024
The Becoming, WOW x WOW Gallery, Online Exhibition, Mar 2024
2023
Small Wonders 12, Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, PH, Nov 2023
2022
Group Exhibition, NoName Gallery, Philadelphia, PH, Dec 2022
Small Wonders 11, Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, PH, Nov 2022
Spectrum 3, Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, PH, Sept 2022
Power in Numbers 7, Gallery Nucleus, Alhambra, CA, Sept. 2022
Beyond Tides 2, Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, PH, June 2022
With Love, Your Biggest Fan: 4, Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, PH, Feb 2022
2020
Small Wonders 9, Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, PH, Nov 2020
Cult of Meow IV Show, Gristle Art Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, Sept 2020
Lithomancy, Gristle Art Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, Feb 2020
2019
Trading Card Art Show III, Gristle Art Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, Dec 2019
Small Wonders 8, Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, PH, Nov 2019
Cult of Meow III Show, Gristle Art Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, Sept 2019
Annual Coaster Show, Out of Step Gallery, Eugene, OR, Sept 2019
Summer Group Show, Blue Crow Gallery, Toronto, ON July 2019
Cactus Garden Group Show, Gristle Art Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, May 2019
Kaleidoscope Group Show, Gristle Art Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, Mar 2019
2018
Winter 18 Group Show, Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, PH, Dec 2018
Cult of Meow II Show, Gristle Art Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, Sept 2018
Sweet Shop Show, Gristle Art Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, May 2018
2017
Trading Card Art Show, Gristle Art Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, Dec 2017
Small Wonders 6, Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, PH, Nov 2017
Arch Enemy Arts 2017 Showcase, Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, PH, Sep 2017
Urban Deco - Flower Box, Mtl en Arts, Montreal, Qc. May 2017
2016
MTL375, Outdoor exhibition by Artgang, Montreal, Qc. Dec 2016
2015
Beatrix Potter tribute, Le repaire des 100 talents, Montreal, Qc. Nov 2015
Steampunk Vampires, Le repaire des 100 talents, Montreal, Qc. Oct 2015
Mars, Usine 106U, Montreal, Qc. Mar 2015
2014
Color Theory, Clutter Gallery, Beacon, NY - Oct 2014
Metamorphose, Usine 106U, Montreal, Qc. Jan 2014
2013
Décover présente Monstra, Montreal, Qc. Oct 2013
2012
The Dirty Show 13, Russell Exhibition Center, Detroit MI. Feb 2012
2011
The Dirty Show 12, Russell Exhibition Center, Detroit MI. Feb 2011
Best of The Breasts" TATA GALA Art Show, Sacred Gallery NYC, Sarasota FL, Feb 2011
Publication
2019 > Black & White: Volume Five, Out of Step Books, USA
2017 > Black & White: Volume Four, Out of Step Books, p. 131 US
2016 > Enchanted: Fairy Tales, Folktales and Fables Artistically Explored, Out of Step Books, p. 178-179-239, USA
2013 > Décover mag, no. 20, oct 2013, p.97 Montreal, Canada
2013 > FULL OF CHARACTER[S], Promopress, p. 89-97-99, Barcelona, Spain
2012 > Adobe Master Class Illustrator, Adobe Press, Peachpit, p. 94 to 97, USA