September 9 – October 8, 2022

CLAIRE CRAWFORD
Unnatural Natures

Artist Talk and Reception: Thursday September 8th, 5-7pm

The exhibition Unnatural Natures is a reflection, and inquiry, into the ways in which we place value on Nature. More specifically the manner that schemas are constructed to make wilderness deeply different from ourselves throughout the mechanisms of environmental discourse. While discussing the preservation of wilderness in a manner that delineates nature as Other, do we reach a disconnect that inhibits Humans from endowing flora and fauna with an interiority analogous with that of humans? What happens when we grant Nature the same properties that we grant ourselves within our decidedly Human structures?

Through the lens of the interconnectivity of humans and animals, I am exploring ways to break down the nature-culture divide with the use of ink, gouache and watercolour. I aim to depict these connections between humans and animals as beautiful, destructive, hopeful, and helpless. I draw on Audubon and other early naturalists to create accurate representations of flora and fauna, to explore how far we’ve come by being immersed in nature, and how far we have to go.

Claire Crawford has learned the many faces of the interaction between our planet and its inhabitants by immersing herself in experiences of the natural world, some of which include exploring in the Garibaldi Mountain Range near Squamish, watching pelicans glide by on a surf safari in Mexico, and having her breath taken away by the Himalayan Griffons in Nepal.

Claire has exhibited works in Victoria, Whistler, and Montreal, and has worked on illustrated conservation efforts through not-for-profit organizations such as the Bateman Foundation. Claire earned an Art History degree from McGill University in Montreal, but has finally found her way back to where her heart truly lies on the west coast where she lives, paints, and walks in the forests.