“The sensitivity that I contain can only be best expressed through making art. Making art is like inhaling and exhaling for me. If I can’t make work, it becomes very hard for me to feel grounded and sane. I truly love making art and it’s my life’s passion,” says Claire Christerson, a native New Yorker and prolific maker of drawings, paintings, sculpture, costume and video. Her work explores the intersection of melancholy, joy, pain and love. “I use my work as a tool to understand myself and to find the poetry in life.” Often prone to the fantastical, Christerson harnesses fantasy as a way of addressing difficult emotions. By leaning on alternative realities, she finds it easier to stay safely rooted in this one. She works from home, and sometimes finds it difficult to truly manage all of the various ideas and projects that engage her. Journaling is another important tool, and a place where Claire can write down ideas that will be fleshed out later. She also longs for a studio space where she can make larger works. “My last challenge is something that I feel I have grown with and learned to move through and that’s making sure that the work I am making is for me and no one else.” Currently, she’s busy finishing up her solo show “Night Shade,” which opens in Toronto at Little Sister Gallery this September, consisting of drawings, sculptures, costumes, sound installation and a book. The sound installation is by Sarah Kinlaw. Meanwhile, Christerson is also working on a series of 2-D Stop-motion animations, as well as a few other book projects.
https://www.clairemariechristerson.com/