Claire Sherwood | March 2024 | GO SLOW Guest Artist
New
March 25
Claire Sherwood, with an installation of her pigmented cast cement works
Please wish a warm ‘go slow’ welcome to Claire Sherwood, an interdisciplinary artist who embodies slow values despite wearing many hats. I’m delighted to add Claire to the Go Slow Art Club roster, and to share some of the thoughts behind her work over the next couple of weeks!
Artist Bio
Claire Sherwood received her M.F.A. from University of Maryland as a David C. Driskell fellowship recipient in 2003. Her work has been exhibited extensively throughout the United States in venues such as the U.S. Smithsonian National Botanic Garden, the Corcoran Museum of Art, Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton NJ, as well as many galleries, museums and colleges across the country. She currently resides in upstate New York where she teaches art at Robert C. Parker School; an independent progressive day school.
Arching, 2023, cardboard reclaimed from family recycling, plaster, paper pulp, modeling compound, flange, acrylic and vinyl paint, 18 x12x12”
Claire, tell us more about your work and your process.
I begin a new piece first by manipulating and shaping a reclaimed piece(s) of cardboard or packaging material. If I am looking to create a very specific form, occasionally I will purchase wood as a base, but 9 times out of 10 work grows from a piece of “trash” or recycling I find suitable to work with.
Once the base structure is constructed (which is an intuitive process of building) It’s a matter of transforming the material into its new state. I use a variety of materials (mainly paper pulp and plaster or concrete) to build layer upon layer; manipulating each layer’s color and surface as I go. I don’t always have a specific color in mind when beginning this process so the finishing of a sculpture is usually the longest part of my process. Pieces can go through 10-20 different variations before I settle on what surface treatment feels right with the form.
My latest body of work (Another Nature) I went back and forth so many times with colors and surface textures. I ended up giving the sculptures a striped paint job. It’s the first time I’ve painted a pattern on my work and I really enjoyed how the stripes changed the feeling of the form. Painting the surfaces took so much longer than I ever anticipated, and that process alone made me slow down! I can be an antsy, physical sculptor, sometimes rushing through a process—pattern-making was definitely an exercise in going slow!
Keep (it) up, 2021, wood, wire, plaster, paper pulp, liquid fabric dye and watercolor
How does the phrase "Go Slow" relate to your work, and to your life in general?
Right now I am using ‘Go Slow’ a bit like a mantra, giving myself permission to take my time. One of my worst habits is to procrastinate then cram all that must be done into a much too tiny window of time. I’ve learned not only is this a horrible way to work, it’s a stressful way to live life! I feel much better when I know I can slow down, think and reflect on the work I am making and adjust to what I see in front of me. ‘Going Slow’ means giving myself permission to not post everything I am working on for the world to see, to take the dog for a long walk in the afternoon and not worry about who’s making dinner, to spend time with my teenagers when they want to spend time with me, without feeling like I have to be tending to something else and to rest when I need to.
From left to right: Stration, 2023, cardboard reclaimed from family recycling, plaster, paper pulp, acrylic and vinyl paint, 34x21x7” / Arching, 2023, cardboard reclaimed from family recycling, plaster, paper pulp, modeling compound, flange, acrylic and vinyl paint, 18 x12x12”
Who or what is making your artist's brain buzz with inspiration right now?
Right now the little snippets of spring weather that are starting to appear in upstate NY are waking me up and inspiring me to get back in the studio. This winter has been a slow and steady season of hibernation and recharging.
A friend recently gifted me Yuliya Makliuk’s book, Potters Save the World. While I don’t consider myself a potter, I am deeply interested in moving my art practice to a place that feels sustainable. With sculpture, you inevitably make objects that take up space, and often use materials that are pretty ugly in terms of their environmental impact. I’m at a place where I don’t want to just consume materials and make future trash that someone else needs to deal with. So the idea of cultivating a more sustainable arts practice along with just getting to be outside for longer stretches of time to enjoy the outdoors has my brain buzzing a bit.
studio installation of Sherwood’s pigmented cast cement works
What other projects or ideas are you looking forward to at the moment?
Right now I am mainly looking forward to having more time and space in my studio. I teach full time, and am looking forward to our school’s spring break so I can have a mental break from teaching others and just engage with my own work. Spring break comes at the perfect time every year, because it starts to set the momentum for my longer break during the summer. It gives me some time to shake off the dust and just play (or clean up) and reset for new projects.
Along with your IG profile, what are the best ways for us to follow your work?
An Online Shop is available on my website (linked below). I also LOVE to create commissioned pieces (from tiny to huge!), so reach out if you’d like a custom piece for you house or your business.
I do put out a newsletter (only 2-4 times a year) please sign up if you’d like HERE: https://www.clairesherwood.com/contact-1
Upcoming events/exhibitions:
Summer 2024
Group show in Chicago with a group of talented ladies I met during the pandemic through a virtual Artist/Mother crit group. We will be showing our work for the second time together in an exhibition at Heaven Gallery. Runs 6/7/2025—7/21/2024
Link: https://www.heavengallery.com/home/exhibitions
𝗙𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰
Exhibition in Troy, NY
The Art Center of Capital Region in Troy, NY will host an exhibition titled 𝘋𝘪𝘨 𝘋𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘳: [𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦] 𝘈𝘳𝘵, 𝘚𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘳𝘰𝘺 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘺, which features work and research of a group of artists using local clays. We are super excited to show our work along with historians, soil scientists, curators, glaze chemists, engineers and others who helped us decipher, connect dots and tell the story.
Link: https://www.artscenteronline.org/