Claire Pearce
website: www.claire-pearce.com
instagram: @claire__pearce
Artist's statement
The focus of my work is exploring contemporary female identity and how it is shaped by the socio-political landscape; the influence of technology, popular culture, fashion and storytelling. Within this narrative I am especially interested in the effect on the emotional and physical self; presence and absence of the female persona and body; construction and deconstruction of identity, visibility and invisibility; and the value of empowerment, solidarity, healing, care and love.
Dualities and oppositions are at the heart of my practice as points of tension where extreme polarities of emotion enable transformations. As such, I’m interested in narrative, fictions and storytelling- particularly fairytales- as imagined spaces that straddle fantasy and reality. My work often takes from the cliched imagery and language of fairytales, cinema and theatre to explore the push-pull dynamic of full-on/full-off emotional and physical connection and disconnection shaped by notions of requited/unrequited love or satisfaction, yearning, longing and rage.
I work across a range of media including drawing, painting, object-making, video, performance and installation.