“Tried to draw fire. Then you wanted me to draw a girl. Grandma tried and you said that she didn’t have the eyes and mouth right. ‘I can’t see them,’ you said. Then I had a go. The head was a bit near the fire and you objected to that saying, ‘she’ll be burnt’. In the end I had to start all over again.”
Quote from my mother’s diary addressed to me, 1964 and introduction to the drawing workshop I am running tomorrow, 2009.
Clare Smith's mixed English/Chinese heritage informs her perspective on issues of identity and categorisation. Her nomadic childhood and early adulthood have meant a somewhat ambivalent relationship to place, reinforced by the sense of ambiguity that comes from her mixed identity. Smith works with drawing, print media, collage and moving image to investigate this ambivalence, with references to craft, the importance of labour and the handmade. Through her choice of materials and approaches, she creates work which attempts to create a sense of unity, an interpretation of Homi Bhabha's "Third Space" - seen as a space in which different parts can come together to challenge dominant ideas of wholeness. Collaboration is part of Smith’s practice and she is also co-founder of Dover Arts Development (DAD) together with painter, Joanna Jones. This involves working with many different artists, curation, organisation, event management, creating networks across East Kent and influencing the public realm in Dover. Clare works from a studio in Dover. She has an MA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins and has exhibited nationally and internationally.
