Claire Hasemeier

Artist Statement

I have seen the presentation - 12/13/14 - CH

Color and the natural environment influence my work. I live in rural Missouri on a hill overlooking the Mississippi River valley where I can see the bluffs of Illinois. Agricultural fields line the roads. The light and color can shift from minute to minute and from season to season. These landscapes can be both expansive and intimate at the same time. The grandeur of a morning sunrise or an evening sunset exists at the same time as the delicate wildflowers and greenery at your feet. Which is the focus of our attention? Exploring the juxtaposition of expansive and intimate landscapes motivates my work. I work to capture the light and the textures of the these landscapes. Creating small mono prints with acrylic paint on cotton fabric, I embroider over the paint with cotton, silk, and metallic threads. By creating a small image, the viewer is encourage to look at the detail and perhaps see something that might have been missed. A small image can be a way to move out and view an expansive space as shapes and textures. Either way the viewer must take a closer look.