The Undersea

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“Ghost children playing, wandering like transient glimpses of an abstract future behind one’s lids, like shadow-puppet prophecies of the eventual end.”

The Undersea is a walk-in multimedia, sensory installation that portrays scenes from a fantastical narrative. The Undersea comprises drawings and prints, soft sculpture, animation and sound art. It also includes a graphic, literary publication that echoes the discourse within the series. The exhibition conveys Clare’s personal reflection of the socio-political climate and urban anxiety. It adopts a humorous tone and sense of absurdity to capture the audience’s imagination, whilst satirising modern society.

The Undersea details a visual narrative aimed at addressing themes of utopian and dystopian societies, and the environment. The underlying story arch follows a young girl protagonist who is the last child born into a climate of ecological disaster and environmental ruin. The story is set during, and after an undefined apocalypse that has biblical allusions to The Rapture. Using the city’s remaining resources, people send out a flight mission to uncharted lands, seeking a new habitat. The girl is enlisted on the mission as a beacon and symbol of hope. The flight however gets lost over sea and she is rescued by an under-sea civilisation. The title of the series is a reference to this fictional race that decidedly separates from humanity in its decline, in hopes of building Utopia. The Undersea is interested in the contradictions and paradoxes of utopian instinct and the ideal investigation of social and political synthesis to achieve greater human and environmental sustenance and harmony.

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The Undersea, 2016
Self-published graphic novel
14.8 x 21.0cm
First edition of 100

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Room_1_5
Installation View: Room 1

Bronze Venus, 2016
Digital print and copper etching on Somerset paper
58.5 x 44cm
In edition of 5

The Racial Neutral State, 2016
Watercolour and ink on Fabriano paper, papercut collage
Approx. 40 x 46cm

Mother and Murderer, 2016
Mixed media collage on MDF board, copper etching on rice paper, digital print on acetate
61 x 161.5cm

iCloud
i (Information) Cloud, 2016
Wire mesh, supersoft toy stuffing, twine
Approx. 120 x 80 x 80cm

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The Undersea (Video Installation), 2016
Animation and video collage, projection mapping on cotton fans
Dimensions variable, 01:30 min loop