Christel Lanthier

Christel Lanthier grew up in a very artistic family, working textiles, embroidery, and beadwork with her mom, grandmother and aunts as well as painting and photography with her dad.

After high school, she studied goldsmithing, and then multidisciplinary art at the Alberta College of Art and Design and the University of Manitoba, where she dove into the practices of photography, sculpture and textiles. The origin of materials has always been a point of interest and a key element in Christel’s work.

When Christel and her husband Joey purchased a farm in 2012, it was an ‘ah-ha’ full circle moment, where Christel realized that wool – an important material to their Métis lineage – could now be grown on home soil. In 2016 after the purchase of their first sheep, Christel had the opportunity to fully explore homegrown wool and leather (tanning) as regenerative local textiles.

Locally grown and finished, wool and leather goods are now Christel’s main materials, mixing in photography, embroidery and beadwork, and her journey continues to evolve.