Catching up on incomplete works & remembering Morocco.
Canadian printmaker and founder of Zocalo art center, Claire Lemay speaks of focusing on completing past works and using different processes to produce new ones until she can get back to the engraving studio. This post is part of a series of interviews with former Artists in Residence at Green Olive Arts asking how this season of social distancing and postponed cultural mobility has impacted them.
Green Olive Arts AiR Interview with Claire Lemay
How have you had to flex or pivot your art practice in this unprecedented season of home confinement? What are you currently working on in your studio at home?
For me, containment has not really changed my work routine. Since, for the past few years, I have been creating my artwork with digital tools in my studio at home. I have a large printer, allowing me autonomy to print my digital images. As for the traditional engraving I have done for many years, I can prepare my plates in my studio at home while waiting for the Zocalo printmaking center to open its doors. Then I’ll be able to print there on the big presses.
“Les Paniers Pour les Sourds 3,” digital print on paper, by Claire Lemay, 2020
“Les Paniers Pour les Sourds 6,” digital print on paper, by Claire Lemay, 2020
What does creative community and/or social sanity look like for you right now? How are you staying connected and grounded?
At the beginning of the confinement, I first focused on making an inventory of my artworks that have never been shown to the public. I also updated my website. I took this opportunity to complete a few series of artworks that I had begun in past years. Then, I started focusing on a series with the theme “The Radiant Cities”. This series reminds me of my visit in the medinas of Morocco last fall. The latest images suggest the idea of confinement by the overabundance of elements that crowd the composition and overlap with each other. From these juxtaposed modules emerge a solitude, a peace that I have noticed in my neighborhood since the beginning of the pandemic.
“La Cité Radieuse 1,” digital print on paper, by Claire Lemay, 2020
“La Cité Radieuse 12,” digital print on paper, by Claire Lemay, 2020
“La Cité Radieuse 13,” digital print on paper, by Claire Lemay, 2020
What insights about creativity in a time of crisis can you share with other artists? What have you been learning?
I communicate regularly with my friends through social media, and am thankful for the great importance that this communication holds in my life.
See more of Claire’s work on her website: www.clairelemay.com
Claire Lemay in her printmaking space at Zocalo arts center, which she founded in 1992 with Johanne Proulx
Click here to see other Covid19 AiR Interviews
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