INTERVIEW
/CLARE SMITH Being born in a multi-heritage household certainly, has it’s advantages. Artist Clare Smith’s Chinese/English descent has given her a varied perspective with regards to many factors, especially art. Clare is also the co-founder of the Dover Arts Development (DAD) which involves working with different artists, curation, organisation and connecting artists across Dover. In her interview with us, Clare talks about the versatility of charcoal as a medium and how art became her main profession. You’ve been working on some new charcoal drawings lately, could you tell us a bit more about them? The new charcoal drawings involve working in situ for 2.5-3 hours on the same piece, taking me to a point where I physically needed to stop before the point of exhaustion. These drawings must: take 2.5-3 hours (drawing as a commitment rather than gesture) be performed in a garden/park (gardens as bounded and unbounded spaces, that change with time and that are timeless and as places of labour and
aesthetic production) represent a view from a designated viewing spot (chair, bench, …. the drawing thus reveals the subjectivity of looking) I think too there is a kind of patterning developing which I’d like to push further and I think the vignette quality of the drawings - i.e. the lack of a rectangular border relates to my thoughts on the porousness of borders, the difficulty of keeping things out or in and the fact that borders of all kinds can be breached.
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