See More, C. Moore
My artistic process is motivated by a compulsory need to create evidence of myself. Because I frequently feel disengaged from reality, I’m constantly searching for ways to prove I am here. Through the deliberate physical, conceptual, and emotional act of making, I combat this separation.
In my work, I tend to work around the void, with each layer of material building upon the last to create an entirely disconnected internal self-portrait. Creating in a very physical manner combats the dissonance and brings me back to the present, into a space where I can address the perplexing emotion of nothingness. Shifting the focus from absence, I use the experience of pushing against it, past it, through it--as a tool for talking about it in juxtaposition.
Once I complete an assemblage, I often use it as a still life for a mixed media drawing in which I am able to see the responses for what they were, for their reactionary qualities, and for the catharsis they gave me. Repetition allows me time to process that experience: by tracing imagery and layering material in the collage and assemblage pieces and through the act of recreating those works in a 2D manner. The drawings are a visual journal of sorts, where I can inspect aspects of the response from a safe distance and reveal tangential connections to the daily occurrences of life that serve as proof of me, however momentary.
Image Description
A mixed-media drawing with one white clay palm print at the center-top of the paper. The drawing depicts the burgundy-colored sketchy outline of Claire’s torso, taking up the majority of the page. She is holding a plastic sheet with a painted yellow self-portrait over her breasts and stomach and looking down at it. Anywhere the plastic covers her body, it is rendered in deep burgundy, with value shifts indicating form. Where there is no plastic, her body, face, and hair are not rendered and remain outlines. The background is muddy forest green around her figure, with moments reverse marked in eraser.
Image Description
A mixed media collage. The collage depicts Claire’s curled up figure repeated many times on two pieces of yellow tracing paper. The figures are done in various colors of paint and marker, showing different levels of detail. These pieces of tracing paper are positioned atop a large yellow and magenta cloud-like form. There are three chunks of painted paper placed throughout the collage. There are two braided pieces of synthetic wool on the bottom right of the piece. The composition is very layered and textural.
Image Description
A mixed-media drawing with latex finger tips at the top and a latex thumb on the right side of the page. The drawing depicts Claire’s face very close to the viewer; it’s rendered in natural coloring. The viewer’s perspective is obscured and blurred by a plastic bag. Roughly the top third of the sheet is magenta-red. The bottom two thirds are tinted light blue with areas of white, green, and yellow. Claire’s eyes and the top of her head are cloaked in the deep magenta-red hue.
Image Description
A mixed media painting displayed using small magnets in each corner. The painting depicts a purple hand, highlighted in warm yellow and outlined in red, raised slightly at the lower left of the composition. The hand casts a looming deep purple shadow onto the light purple tiled wall behind it. The shadow is ringed in yellow light. The top corner of a room is visible at the upper left corner. The composition is replete with texture and layering.
Image Description
An assembly of objects arranged in a sculptural format. There are two small glass maple syrup jars filled with colored pencil shavings. These were collected over the course of Claire’s graduate school experience and are by-products of all of the mixed media drawings in this show. Lying on the surface next to them are three white clay hand clenches. Each one is unique and shows intense emotive quality.
Image Description
A mixed-media drawing with two white clay palm imprints on either side of the top edge of the paper. The drawing depicts the burgundy-colored sketchy outline of a woman (Claire) standing in the middle of the page. Claire's body is not fully rendered, though she casts a deep indigo and violet shadow beneath her. She is holding two blue-tinted sheets of plastic, painted with contrasting blue and orange portraits of Claire's face. They overlap and intersect with each other due to the transparency of the plastic. The background around Claire is dark forest green on top with burgundy swaths and is sporadically erased out in reverse marks. The green fades to white/nothing at the bottom of the page.
Image Description
A mixed-media drawing with one white clay palm print at the right-top of the paper. The drawing depicts two sheets of blue-tinted plastic layered on top of each other. Both sheets are painted with large portraits of Claire’s face. The top face is contoured in green, the bottom in red. The sheets appear to flutter in the breeze; where they overlap, the contrasting colors interact with each other. There are subtle highlights found in the wrinkles of the plastic and cast shadows from the paint strokes on the white background wall behind the sheets.
Image Description
A mixed media painting displayed using small magnets in each corner. The painting depicts the view of a multi-colored house roof. Large, dark blue shadows of tree branches splay across the rooftop. Below the roof is light blue, lined vinyl siding. There is a small amount of blue shadowed street and sidewalk and green grassy curb visible on the left side of the image. A bright red window frame obstructs the top quarter of the view. The composition is replete with texture and layering.
Image Description
A mixed-media drawing with two latex thumbs, on the top left and bottom right of the page. The drawing depicts Claire’s face very close to the viewer; it’s rendered in natural coloring. The right half of her face is exposed, whereas the left is covered in a sheet of plastic. The right half is clear and defined. The left is obscured and blurred. The plastic ripples against the surface of her face and is tinted light blue, with a magenta-red triangular portion at the top left.
Image Description
A mixed media collage. The collage depicts Claire sitting with her arms wrapped around her knees. Her face, arms, hands, and lower half of her legs are drawn in black marker on transparencies. The rest of her body is painted in loose red brushstrokes with blue cross-contour lines. Her face and legs are repeated in white on two transparencies on the bottom right of the collage. There are layers of pastel colored and painted corrugated cardboard behind her figure. There is also a length of synthetic black “wool” running down the right side of the piece. There are two braided pieces of synthetic wool on the bottom left. The composition is very layered and textural.
Image Description
A mixed-media drawing with white clay spreading over the top quarter of the page. It is sculpture-like and lies horizontally on a surface. The drawing depicts the burgundy-colored sketchy outline of Claire. She is standing on the right of the page, looking away from the viewer and holding up a plastic sheet to look at. The plastic is blue-tinted and painted with contrasting red and green portraits of Claire's face. They overlap and intersect with each other due to the transparency of the plastic. The background to the left of Claire is a dark forest green with various shades of blue, magenta, and yellow and is sporadically erased out in reverse marks. The green fades to white around Claire’s figure and the plastic sheet.
Image Description
A mixed media painting displayed using small magnets in each corner. The painting depicts the straight-on view of the adjoining space of two walls; one is nearer the viewer and one is slightly farther away. The farther wall takes up the majority of the composition and has a deep red shadow of a window frame with a figure emerging from the right cast upon it. There are secondary, light purple and red blurry shadows of plants also cast upon the wall. A vining green plant with heart-shaped leaves snakes up from the bottom of the paper. The ceiling and outcropping between the two walls are purple. The closest wall, only a sliver on the right hand side of the image, is a pale pinky red and mimics the shadows cast on the far wall. The composition is replete with texture and layering.
Image Description
A mixed-media drawing with one white clay finger-pinch print at the top of the paper. The drawing depicts Claire’s crouched figure in the center of the page. She is covered in a blue-tinted plastic sheet. The side draped over the front of her body is painted with an orange self-portrait and the blue portrait on the back of the plastic sheet is obscured by her body. Anywhere the plastic covers her body, her figure is rendered in deep burgundy, with value shifts indicating form. Where there is no plastic, her body and legs are not rendered and remain sketchy outlines. She is spotlit in white around her figure. The background is muddy forest green fading to hot pink, encircled around her, with moments reverse marked in eraser.
Image Description
A mixed-media drawing with a latex thumb and latex fingertips, on either side of the page. The drawing depicts Claire’s face very close to the viewer; it’s rendered in natural coloring. Claire peers out at the viewer through a magenta-red target off-center on a plastic bag. The plastic ripples against the surface of her face and is tinted light blue. There are white highlights and areas of shadow on the plastic sheet.
Image Description
A mixed-media drawing with one white clay finger-pinch print at the left-top of the paper. The drawing depicts Claire fully covered in a blue-tinted plastic bag, the front of which is painted with a warped self-portrait in varying shades of green. There is a fair amount of reflective quality to the plastic, with the left area highlighted and the right darker. Underneath the plastic portrait, Claire’s face and torso are rendered in deep burgundy with value shifts indicating form. This is a cropped view, showing only her chest, shoulders, and face. She is peering out at the viewer. The background is a dark, nearly black, forest green and indigo, with several reverse marks.
Image Description
A mixed media painting displayed using small magnets in each corner. The painting depicts an overhead view of a body of water with six koi fish swimming in it. There is a warped purple-red shadow of a dock with a figure peering down into the water. The koi are various shades of orange and white, some deeper in the water, some nearer the surface. The blue sky and white clouds are reflected onto the water, creating many organic shapes. The composition is replete with texture and layering.
Inclusivity Statement
In See More, I wanted to put together an exhibit that could be experienced and enjoyed by all, in a variety of formats, through multiple opportunities.
Accessibility Features
All work is 51” center hanging height
All pedestals and shelves reach maximum height of 36”
Labels and documents are printed in large type
Ordered and numbered image and audio descriptions for each artwork
QR codes located next to each artwork for quick access to digital formats of image and audio descriptions
Sensory objects corresponding with materials used in artwork and are available for tactile experience