Hovering between abstraction and figuration, Clare Woods’ visceral paintings are characterized by fluid mark-making and vibrant colors.
Originally trained as a sculptor, much of Woods’ work is occupied with exploring physical form in two-dimensional space. Fusing diverse influences from Paul Nash and Barbara Hepworth to Marlene Dumas and Wolfgang Tillmans, Woods destabilizes traditional art historical genres including landscape, portraiture, and still life. Themes such as beauty, mortality, and loss underpin her practice.
Woods’ compositions evolve from an archive holding thousands of found and personal photographs. Using instinctive, free-flowing brushstrokes, Woods defamiliarizes her source imagery by breaking them down into their formal elements. The artist begins with a single image, drawing a simple outline on gessoed aluminum before considering how to approach its flattened structure in paint. Combining oil and resin to “make the paint move,” Woods adjusts color and tone through the weight of her brush as a sculptor might manipulate clay. Working from above enables Woods to act from her shoulder rather than her wrist, adding further movement to her paintings as she pushes and smears the wet pigment across the surface.
Woods currently has a solo exhibition at Norrtälje Konsthall, Sweden and a solo exhibition by the artist will take place at Towner Eastbourne, UK in 2026. Her work is found in major public collections including Buffalo AKG Art Museum; Arken Museum of Modern Art; Arts Council Collection, UK; British Council Collection; Dakis Joannou Collection Foundation, Greece; The Hepworth Wakefield; The Royal Collection Trust, UK; The National Museum of Wales; and University of Warwick, Mead Gallery Collection.
[excerpted from Stephen Friedman Gallery website: www.stephenfriedman.com]