b.e.i.n.g.b.u.o.y.a.n.t is Claire’s response to the past and present of Greenock, as well as shared inspirations of the work of George Wyllie. This is the Wyllieum’s first commission of site-specific installation in the main gallery and has been funded by a grant from Henry Moore Foundation. Marine structures such as canvas, leather, steel, rope and grease are composed to respond to the space, context and the dynamic surroundings of the Firth of Clyde. The show is part of continuing year-long celebrations to mark 200 years of Royal Scottish Academy, one of the oldest and most prestigious cultural institutions in Scotland.
Background on b.e.i.n.g.b.u.o.y.a.n.t
Claire is the first artist commissioned to make work in response to the context of the Wyllieum to be exhibited within the impressive main gallery space. She has commenced a period of research that will bring together a number of conceptual strands. For example, through revisiting the work of artist Joseph Beuys, who George befriended in the 1980s, and that has been an important influence for Claire since art school. The work of all three artists shares an obsessive interest in exploration, combining materials and objects in provocative and often absurd ways in order to draw attention to their wider imbedded cultural roles and meanings. Familiar mundane and overlooked material of the everyday is given poignancy and emotional weight becoming a central focus within her work.
