Artist Statement

I’ve always been drawn to the freedom of being somewhere else. Growing up, I found it in the countryside, spending time with animals, or losing myself in books and imaginary worlds. That longing for freedom stayed with me. In my 30s, I sailed across the Atlantic looking for a different way of living, and in my 40s I finally took the leap into a creative life.

I’m naturally a researcher and an analyser. I like pulling ideas apart, spotting patterns and questioning how things relate to one another. My work might begin with a thought about belonging, a changing landscape, the movement of an animal or an unlikely combination of objects. I’m particularly interested in how our surroundings shape us, and how changing relationships between things can alter what we see and understand.

Making is where that thinking becomes less predictable. Through drawing, printmaking, painting and sculpture, I build up layers, combine materials, rearrange forms and follow unexpected connections. A line might suggest a road, a collection of marks becomes a creature, or an ordinary vessel develops a personality of its own.

I enjoy that moment when something familiar begins to suggest something else. There’s often humour and play in the work, sometimes more serious questions, but always room for discovery. I hope people find something that makes them curious enough to look again, and perhaps enjoy a little of the freedom I find in making it.

Artist Bio

Clare Blatchford-Hanna is a multidisciplinary artist based in West Sussex, working in drawing, printmaking, painting and sculpture. Her work focuses on the ordinary objects and spaces of everyday life, finding the playful, strange or quietly alive in things most people walk past without a second look.

Before turning to art full-time, Clare had a long career spanning corporate management, HR, IT consultancy and running her own business, worlds away from the studio, but not unrelated to the creative strategies and comfort with complexity that her practice demands. She later studied at West Dean College in West Sussex, completing a Foundation Diploma in Art and Design followed by a Graduate Diploma in Fine Art.

Since graduating, her work has been shown at venues including Wells Cathedral, Copeland Gallery in London, and Oxmarket Contemporary in Chichester. She takes part in Chichester Open Studios and welcomes visitors to her studio in West Sussex.