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Clara McClenon
My drawings, ceramics, and small objects amplify the strange, ordinary magic of life. They're whimsical, sometimes a little weird, always grounded in the world we live in, and pointed towards a wonder we can almost see.
My work grows from a handmade deck of sixty symbol cards, each drawn from everyday life: a cat, a plate, a spiral, a mountain. For four years, I've been pulling two cards at a time and making work in response. Each symbol holds more than a single meaning. A rainbow, for example, is refracted light, and also pure amazement, and a reminder of unseen realms. Working with the deck brings these symbols to life, and each piece becomes a way of honoring how much an ordinary thing can mean. The artwork is made to live with, like a favorite poem.
I've been shaped by my study of neuroscience and my work as an experience researcher. Both have taught me about the complexity of perception and the power each of us holds to shape how we see the world. I believe we need more chances to pause and take in just how mysterious it is to be alive.
Biography
Born in Austin, Texas, Clara McClenon is an artist and experience researcher. A lifelong curiosity about how we understand and make meaning from life has led her to years of study in mysticism, epistemology, and the nature of consciousness. Her work also takes inspiration from folk art: its warmth, its directness, and its sense of being made for people. She earned her MFA in Art and MS in Information from the University of Michigan, following a B.S. in Neuroscience from Washington & Lee University. She has been supported by residencies at MASS MoCA, Vermont Studio Center, and DRAWinternational in France, and she has exhibited in New York City, across the U.S., and abroad. Recent exhibitions include her solo show Sun Signs in Sunnyside, Queens, and the group shows Divination at Peep Space and Arcane Bodies at WomensWork.Art. She and her husband, artist Trevor King, have lived in Sunnyside, Queens since moving to New York City in 2016.