Claire Watson, One off, 2022. © 2023 Claire Watson / Artists Rights Society (ars), New york
“From the moment I encountered Claire Watson’s canvases in 2023, turning discarded items into art, the work resonated with me.
Becoming a parent made me realize that the central figures in my life were no longer self, but my children, and I gradually felt like losing my own identity. Yet I continued to work, and life evolved in time.
The work I have created has transformed into the art and my creative output is stronger than ever.”
-Ashlynn Park
“As an artist, I’ve always been interested in working with found and repurposed materials. In recent work, my focus has been on leather clothing salvaged from thrift stores, or passed down by friends.
To understand the physical nature of the leather, I also engage with the many histories the article of clothing contains — as the consumer product, desired, purchased, and then discarded; the hide, transformed through stages by hand labor; and at the very beginning, the animal, the source.”
- Claire Watson
ashlyn x claire watson installation / Photograph: Garrett Carroll / location: onna house loft
“Similarly, Claire continued crafting art while caring for her children, which has led to the beautiful work she is known for today.
Unable to spend a whole day standing behind a canvas while taking care of her children, she began dismantling and reassembling leather gloves at their eye level, which paved a way for her unique and beautiful creations.
I was struck by these parallels in our lives and hope that sharing our experiences may inspire others to start anew.”
-Ashlynn Park
“For me, the pattern shapes of the disassembled clothing are abstract reflections of feminine form, animated by the material’s memory, by loss, and the possibilities of renewal.”
- Claire Watson
ashlyn x claire watson installation / Photograph: Garrett Carroll / location: onna house loft