May 28 to July 11, 2026
List of available works coming soon
Caroline Pham | Ora-C
Wasselena Bilak | Bilak
Pauline Ebel | Soie Lait
Curator : My-Van Dam
The exhibition States of Being brings together the works of Caroline Pham, Wasselena Bilak, and Pauline Ebel, three jewellery artists whose practices expand jewellery beyond adornment, revealing its sculptural, emotional, and transformative qualities. Rooted in material, memory, and the body, their works explore how objects can hold traces, convey emotion, and shape our relationship to the living world.
Moving between organic, affective, and corporeal states, the artists propose different ways of engaging with material and relating to objects. Jewellery becomes a site of encounter: forms in which memory, presence, and movement converge. Through metal, stone, textile, and found materials, each artist develops a distinct visual language through which objects become extensions of the body, vessels of intimacy, or carriers of lived experience.
In Caroline Pham’s (ORA-C) work, forms evoke organisms suspended between emergence and mutation. Inspired by natural cycles and the tension between raw materials and precious metals, her sculptures seem inhabited by a quiet energy, suspended somewhere between relic and living form. Wasselena Bilak’s practice centres on transmission and affective memory, where jewellery becomes a vessel for emotion and familial inheritance. With Pauline Ebel (Soie Lait), jewellery becomes an extension of the body: her articulated and modular forms explore the relationships between constraint, movement, and inner expression.
Through States of Being, jewellery emerges as more than something simply worn on the body. It becomes a space where gestures, stories, and transformations take shape—marked by the traces of time, bodies, and living matter.
Opening : Thursday May 28 at 5:30 p.m., the artists and curator will be present
Biography
Caroline Pham is a contemporary jeweller based in Montreal and the founder of the brand ORA-C. Self-taught, she has developed over the past 11 years an evolving practice that foregrounds experimental, sculptural pieces as well as a distinctive visual artistic direction.
Her work has been widely featured in publications such as The New York Times, Vogue (Poland and China), Elle (Canada, Quebec, and the United States), Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, and Numéro, among others. Her creations have been worn by notable figures on Netflix, the big screen or on stage, including Carey Mulligan, Janelle Monáe, Meryl Streep, and Elisapie. She has also presented her collections in numerous shows and events across Canada and the United States, notably in Montreal, Toronto, New York, and Los Angeles. Her visual approach has been recognized with several distinctions, including American Photography Awards, a Grand Prix Lux in photography, and an Applied Arts Award.
Wasselena Bilak is a Ukrainian and French jeweller based in Montreal since 2014. After working in audiovisual production between France and Canada, she founded her brand Bilak in 2018, marking a shift toward a practice grounded in material exploration.
Active within Montreal’s contemporary craft scene, she regularly takes part in exhibitions, markets, and collaborative projects, often working alongside artists from disciplines such as illustration and textile.
Her pieces are carried by select boutiques, including the McCord Museum in Montreal, as well as across Canada and internationally, notably in Brooklyn.
Pauline Ebel is a multidisciplinary artist originally from the Alpes-Maritimes region in France. Since 2025, she has lived between Paris and Tiohtià:ke / Mooniyang (Montreal), the unceded Indigenous territory where she grew up. Developing her practice under the pseudonym Soie Lait since 2021, she approaches jewellery as a space of encounter between body, movement, and material, primarily working with silver, gold, and brass.
Her work has been presented in various contexts, including Souk (19th edition), the MURAL Festival, and Melbourne Design Week, and featured in publications such as Elle Québec, The Plant Magazine, and SUKO Magazine. Between 2021 and 2025, she also developed several collaborations, notably with Gérald Lajoie, Seruh, and Geissler.
My-Van Dam is a multidisciplinary artist and curator based in Tiohtiá:ke / Montreal. She holds a BFA from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and develops a practice spanning installation, sculpture, performance, image-making, and drawing.
Alongside her artistic practice, she has worked within several art institutions and artist-run centres, notably at La Centrale galerie Powerhouse in co-directorship and programming, as well as at La Guilde in exhibition project management and programming.
Her work has been presented in several institutions and events across Canada, including the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal (2022), MAADI (2022), the Fondation Rad Hourani (2021), Projet Casa (2022), Art Souterrain (2022), and La Centrale (2024). Recently, she presented solo exhibitions at Galerie Diagonale (2026), Fondation PHI (2025), and Montréal, arts interculturels (2024). She has been the recipient of residencies at SBC galerie d’art contemporain (2023) and Pocoapoco (2026). Her work is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des arts de Montréal.
A CLOSER LOOK
Tuesday June 16, 2026, PM (time to be confirmed)
Curator My-Van Dam will lead a discussion with the three artists featured in the exhibition: Caroline Pham, Wasselena Bilak, and Pauline Ebel.
A Closer Look is a monthly series of short and insightful guided exhibition visits. Hosted by La Guilde’s team and, occasionally, exhibiting artists, A Closer Look is an opportunity to learn more about La Guilde’s programming in a casual and social environment. We welcome you to join us- we’ll be keeping a cup of coffee (or tea!) warm for you.
A Closer Look is a free program.
More details coming soon.