CLARE THOMAS: MY MOTHER'S HOUSE - Opening Reception

OPENING RECEPTIONFRIDAY MARCH 2nd 7 - 9pm

Houses and identities are often intertwined. A house is refuge from the world while it reflects the soundness of our self. But what if the house is in disarray and nothing makes sense anymore? In response to her mothers’ memory loss, Thomas uses figurative drawings and paintings to create the imaginary house that holds her mother's memories. A house in which, in the apparent disarray and confusion, new connections and stories are made.

"The intensely autobiographical works... tell the story of imperfectly remembered events: memories “stored” in family photographs yet still subject to disorganization and even disintegration" says Thomas.

She was inspired to begin this series when, shortly after her Mother's diagnosis, she found a box of old family photographs and was struck by the way the photographs seemed to preserve events and memories. Using photocopied family photographs as her source, all the drawings and paintings contain figures from the original photographs.

Artist's Bio

Clare Thomas is a British contemporary artist living and working in Victoria, BC. Her work is about forgetting, specifically how memory loss affects family history. Working from old family photographs, and using paint, ink, old papers and packaging, wax, thread and ballpoint pens, she creates drawings, collages and paintings that recreate family memories in the wake of her Mother’s Alzheimer’s disease.Thomas is a founding member of BOXCARSIX artist collective and co-founded Draw by Drawing, a weekly community drawing workshop in Victoria. She has an MA in Art and Environment from Falmouth University, UK, (2012) and has exhibited her work in both Canada and the UK.