Clara Wells
Clara was born in Christchurch, New Zealand (1990) and completed her Master of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury (2015). Clara's works have been finalists in the National Contemporary Art Awards twice and awarded merit in the Parkin Drawing Prize twice also. She has been involved in Shared Lines Kaikoura and Wellington in recent years and has exhibited in both Australia and New Zealand. She currently works from her studio in Christchurch, while also studying towards a Bachelor of Medical Imaging.
Shared Lines: Pūtahitanga 2020
The work I have contributed to this SL:P project is reflective of the concepts of capturing/engulfing/absorbing/abducting. In part it considers the physiological aspects of the pandemic and also the psychological insularity created by social and media influences.
Part of my recent work has been in exploring communication particularly from the vantage point of reaching out or making contact from distant or obscured locations. I have also been looking at direction, orchestration and documentation under abstract circumstances. It considers communication and observations of communication where there is a disconnect through lack of common ‘language’ however one might interpret that concept.
Shared Lines: Aotearoa in Japan 2020
Unknown Portrait No.1 (2019) graphite and charcoal on paper 300x420mm
Unknown Portrait No.2 (2019) graphite and charcoal on paper 300x420mm
Always in my work I am looking for ways of representing motion and new or novel methods of animation. Recently I have been interested in portraits that seek to represent the subject as a being of motion rather than a perfectly still snap shot in time. The animated work I am presenting was part of a crowd sourced animation experiment where I invited people to draw a circle for me. I used these as key frames that drive the work forward and I see it as an interesting documentation of the variety of interpretations of the simple instruction to 'draw a circle'. I would like to extend my thanks to the several hundred people from across New Zealand who participated in this work, their individuality - whether conscious or not - made this work such a treat to create and share!
Shared Lines: Wellington 2017
Ōtautahi Automatic (2017) from Clara Wells on Vimeo.