Clair Aldington
Clair graduated with an M.A. in Contemporary Arts and Music with Distinctionfrom Oxford Brookes University in February 2005.
Margins are a point between acceptability and unacceptability, safety and danger, seen and unseen, edge and over the edge. Margins form a line marking that edge. A space between the physical and the place where it touches its surroundings. An area of limbo. A borderland. A frontier place. A No Mans Land. A place waiting to be found. The seashore. The touching of land by water. An ever changing place of discovery, of treasure. Never static, always shifting.
Much of her work explores people and places that are on the margins.
Margins are a point between acceptability and unacceptability, safety and danger, seen and unseen, edge and over the edge. Margins form a line marking that edge. A space between the physical and the place where it touches its surroundings. An area of limbo. A borderland. A frontier place. A No Man’s Land. A place waiting to be found. The seashore. The touching of land by water. An ever changing place of discovery, of treasure. Never static, always shifting.
Marginalisation is pushing people to the margins because of prejudice, hatred, ignorance. Those who are marginalised challenge the space they have been marginalised from. In this way, the margins inform the remainder. Margins can be transformed into creative spaces because they are unknown, unpredictable, frightening. A loss of identity. A Lack of ownership. A disappearance of order.
'much of the creativity already expressed (through the Ark-T Centre) has connected in some way with those that feel excluded, sometimes by physical or mental circumstance, or by lack of opportunity. The Ark-T Centre seeks to provide a space whereby this creativity can flourish.' Ark-T promotional leaflet
Margins confine, constrain and mark the edge or define freedom in a given situation. Yet, edges, surface areas are often the places of greatest growth. A new shoot has to force its way through the seed’s hard outer casing in order to take root. Boundaries are places of change and extremity. Margins to me are transforming, regenerating places.
Work made has included handwoven sculptural hangings constructed from reclaimed materials, mainly ropes, nets and wood left on the tideline. These have been created for the outdoors as well as the indoors and so explore the interface between the two. More recent work is mixed media, installation and performance based, centred around the fingerprint and concept of the labyrinth, looking at how society black-marks certain groups through misunderstanding and prejudice, particularly since September 11 2001 and after the more recent suicide bombings.
Fingerprints are about the edge of a person. They are imprints of our skin, which marks our physical boundary. Fingerprints have an ability to be unique, to reveal, but also to conceal. Fingerprints reveal the physicality, but not the personality. They are a unique identification but not a true representation of the whole person. Fingerprints can be used to protect, but also as a weapon of marginalisation
Clair is a freelance artist who runs workshops and residencies for schools and groups in the community. Most recently, she has been working for Modern Art Oxford, leading workshops and gallery tours for schools and youth groups.
Clair is a Restorative Justice Worker with the Youth Offending Team, using art with young people to help them explore their feelings about themselves and their offences and to help repair some of the harm caused by their offences. Often this involves giving the artwork to their victim or, where this is not possible, to a community group.
1. ‘Birch’
2. ‘Forest Dream’
3. ‘Black Marked’
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