Today we’d like to introduce you to Claire Colette.
Claire, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
The brief timeline is that I was born in France to a French mother and American father. I spent my teenage years in the suburbs of Los Angeles, eventually living in the Bay Area, where I received my MFA from Mills College in 2013. I paint and write poetry, and am an avid reader and music fan. Alongside my art career, I have spent the last 13 years working at music venues in various capacities.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
These days I am mostly a painter. The motifs in my work are constantly evolving, but thematically they reference my interest in darkness, light, internal and external realms, time, and mysticism. My recent body of work is inspired by pantheism and pagan culture’s relationship to the natural world, seasons and the solar system. I make paintings using translucent and opaque layers of acrylic and flashe paint, which often describe abstracted landscapes, suns and moons, and sacred architectures.
What I hope people take away from the paintings is a complicated question, as ultimately I try to release control of the works once they are out in the world. What is on my mind when I am painting though, is that we live in a dark and confusing time, where many people are being failed by political structures and in which the ecosystem is suffering. I don’t think all art needs to reflect light but I do think the art that does is helpful as a reminder that better is possible, that the mystery of the dark can be beautiful, and that what we know is truly nothing in the face of the surrounding wildness. Sometimes realizing our smallness is the most liberating thing. In my wildest dreams, my art evokes this liberation.
Artists face many challenges, but what do you feel is the most pressing among them?
Late stage capitalism.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
I have a show up at Ochi Projects in Los Angeles through October 27th. I just started a monthly newsletter where I write about politics, books, and the sky, as well as exhibition news. People can sign up here: http://eepurl.com/cNOkOn
Contact Info:
- Website: www.clairecolette.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/claire___colette/
- Other: http://eepurl.com/cNOkOn
Image Credit:
All images courtesy of Ochi Projects
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