Can you tell me a little bit about you?
I am a French artist based in Paris. I went to ENSAD, with a specialty in printed image. So etching and silkscreening to start, book layout a bit. A lot of drawing, some paintings. Since graduating, I’ve participated in several shows.
When did you first discover art, or realize you wanted to make it yourself?
Since I was a kid. I was very lucky that my parents really pushed me all my life to be an artist, even if they are freaking out now that I am.
What do you like most about working where you do?
I had several studios around Paris. All of them were shared with other artists, friends, people with whom you can share your work, your ideas and progress in time. I am now alone in a studio and I cherish my alone-ness.
What ideas are you exploring in your practice?
My work is about cliché, sayings, and the different mutations of the body and the mind. Through drawings, etchings and paintings, I am telling a story, true or not, inspired by collected images, caught words or lived nightmares. In school, was always very worried that my art was too “feminine.” I was afraid to explore the colours as I wanted. All my work was in black and white. Two years ago, a friend told me: “Stop being afraid of doing ‘girly’ pieces of art. You are a girl. You are girly. Girly is fine. For now on, I am taking much more freedom with the materials and colour used. If my work is obviously inspired by my daily life, I dream in my work of a world in which the fury of the uterus would make humanity laugh.
What is your process like?
I am researching and producing at the same time. My work is made on instinct. I can produce a piece in a day. Put it on a wall look at it for days, then put it away. A month later, I can cut it, and use a pattern of it to create another piece.
Is there any subject or theme you’ve been particularly interested in lately?
I am working lately on the relationship between women and container. And on the notion of the secret.
Do you have a day job or other work that you split your time between?
I am also a graphic designer. I love having those two sides in my life.
Do you have a piece of advice that has influenced your practice?
If you know how to draw, try to learn how not to, and if you don’t know how, try to.
What does it mean to you to have a “community?”
It’s whats surround you. Community is essential in the life of an artist. Community and the absence of it have to live together.
Do you have any routines or rituals in the studio that get you into the mode or mindset to make your work?
I listen to the radio all day long. I love listening to people talking.
What do you find most daunting, challenging, or frustrating about pursuing art?
You have to be extremely persistent.
How would you define “success” in art?
To be able to live on it. To pay your rent.
To be able to be interested all your life.
What is the most exciting thing you’ve done or accomplished so far, related to your work?
Being able to be an artist.
Find more at claracitron.com and on Instagram at @citron_clara!
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