Claire Benn

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Previously shown in

Her quiet materials 2021

Warp weft stitch thread 2021

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Earth materials 2023

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Landscape is where I place myself – be that a remote wilderness, a ploughed field, a meadow or a wood.  A piece of cloth (usually linen or hemp) is always my starting point.  Earth pigments provide the colour and connect me back to the soil.  Soya milk binds pigment to cloth and enables me to communicate a sense of the landscape.  Thread is the final addition, adding quiet accents and a literal surface texture that fingertips can feel.

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These are my quiet materials, used to make art that evokes solitude, stillness and silence.

‘Here & There’ is a body of work based on no particular place.  Being on the land and in nature is important to me.  I feel more connected to the earth and in addition to being uplifted by the landscape I often find myself wondering about what lies beneath my feet:  the micro-organisms (the funghi, the bacteria) and the creatures (nematodes, mites, spiders, insects and earthworms) that I’ve learned can transform energy, create and modify their habitat, influence soil health and aid in the transformation of greenhouse gases.  It’s all quite astonishing and rather humbling – without the soil, life would not exist.