Claire Benn

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​previously shown in

Her Quiet Materials 2020

warp weft stitch thread 2021

unearthed 2023

earth materials 2023

cloth and clay 2024

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ten 2026

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Claire seeks to connect to the remote landscapes she loves. Her home in east Surrey - beneath the North Downs - provides access to the natural world, although her heart lives in the truly wild spaces of Dartmoor, Cornwall and particularly, the north-west of Scotland. There she can experience solitude, stillness and silence. Sitting quietly, touching rock, feeling the soil, the plants and observing the life it sustains. She can rest in the world and be still.

 

Through walking, sitting, looking and feeling Claire examines textures, lines, shapes and colours. She works on linen or hemp, using earth pigments as they give her a direct connection back to the land. Those pigments are bound to the cloth with natural protein. She follows up with thread and artefacts that tie her to the land and at times, the past.

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Claire’s family encouraged drawing, painting and making… but school did not. Even then, the arts were considered unimportant. Not being academically minded, she opted out of formal education and built a successful career in management training. In 1998 Claire re-focused her career on art and specifically, textiles, engaging in self-directed studio work and curated study with practising artists. Her previous working life gave her a skill set to establish a teaching practice (dedicated to the use of textiles) which ran from 2001 to 2015, when devoting time to her own studio practice became the priority.

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Click the image for details and if you are interested in Claire Benn's work please enquire below​​