Claire Barclay

In her quietly evocative sculptures and installations, often incorporating her framed prints and watercolors, Claire Barclay explores the emotional, psychological, and visceral resonance of everyday materials and forms. As she describes: “For me, it’s…the psychology behind our relationship to material and form that I’m…interested in.” While she incorporated found objects into her early work, she eventually moved to producing or designing all of the elements in her multi-part, finely balanced pieces herself. A combination of the handcrafted and industrial, Barclay’s sculptures and installations fill rooms, hug the floor, and lean against walls. By using omnipresent, tactile materials, like leather, metal, and fabric, and crafting forms that suggest such common things as body parts, architectural fragments, clothing, and toys, Barclay encourages viewers to connect with her work and to the power of mundane materials to stir emotions and trigger memories.