Claire Bridge - A Terrible Beauty

A Terrible Beauty, Claire's first solo exhibition with Flinders Lane Gallery, will be on view 7-25 September.

'My work investigates transitions; from stillness to movement, changes of psychological states and notions of shifting time. Essentially, through the figure I explore the human condition and the evolution of the human spirit, embodied most often through the female form in shifting moments of experience, poignant or dramatic. With reference to classical traditions, I employ intense high realism and dramatic lighting in works informed by myth and story, imbued with symbolism. Light and dark become symbolic of the emerging and disintegrating natures of our existence. It is this edge of change in which I am most interested.'

Claire Bridge’s exquisite brushwork reveals a deep sensitivity toward her subject matter. Having proven her mastery of traditional Neo-Classical oil painting techniques (she has participated in numerous national awards), Claire’s more recent works have begun to seek out a series of conceptual concerns regarding the human condition. Youth’s mired slide toward inevitable mortality and the solitude of passionate longing are just some of the themes that have been poetically tackled by this emerging talent. Through images of the nude and elements of nature - storm clouds, flowers and furs - Claire Bridge’s forthcoming coming solo presents a series of seductive paintings set to explore the web of energy that hangs between humans and the natural world we inhabit.

In 2009, Bridge won both the People's Choice Award and the Living Art Award for the Stan and Maureen Duke Gold Coast Art Prize.  With her portrait If Looks Could Kill, she was a finalist in the 2009 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize for the second year running.