Claire Marcus Fine Arts

My recent work mixed media  and book formats focuses on the interaction of public and private history patterns and the individual stories that compose them. I am especially interested in the power of  land- and cityscapes to record and imply narrative.  My family background led me read the Domesday Book, a 1086 English census that records the impact of the Norman Conquest, both directly and by implication.

The Holding Patterns series is inspired  by the records of demographic, cultural, and economic upheavals that followed the Norman invasion in 1066. Within the  accounts of displacement, property values, and resource inventories are the stories of lives lost or altered, loyalties kept or redirected, and the resulting cultural flux.  These issues form contemporary discourse as well.

Excerpts from Series 1- 9.

HOLDING PATTERNS

SERIES 1,  1/4

ESSEX

20" X 16"

Repurposed map printed on silk, repurposed text, stitched to mixed papers

HOLDING PATTERNS

SERIES 2, 1/4

BERKSHIRE/NORMANDY

13" X 13"

Repurposed maps woven,  repurposed text, stitched to mixed papers

 HOLDING PATTERNS

SERIES 3, 1/5

WORCESTER

 16"  X 20"

Repurposed map  and text printed on silk,  stitched to artist-made and mixed papers

HOLDING PATTERNS

SERIES 4

PLACE/DISPLACED

10" x 10"

Collograph prints collaged with altered text, book format

 HOLDING PATTERNS

SERIES 6, 1/4

IN RETURN FOR GUARDING THE  FOREST

11 "  X 8"

Collograph and resist printed, handcolored repurposed text, stitched to artist-made and mixed papers

HOLDING PATTERNS

SERIES 8,  1/4

INCLUDING THE QUARRY

8" x 8"

Collograph prints, pen and ink drawings, altered text, mixed papers

 HOLDING PATTERNS

SERIES 9,  1/10

A LITTLE PLANTATION  OF WILLOWS

10" x 10"

Collograph prints, pen and ink drawings, altered text, watercolor,  mixed papers

HOLDING PATTERNS

SERIES 1,  1/4

NORFOLK

20" X 16"

Repurposed map printed on silk, repurposed text, stitched to mixed papers

HOLDING PATTERNS

SERIES 2, 1/4

SURREY/NORMANDY

13" X 13"

Repurposed maps woven,  repurposed text, stitched to mixed papers

 HOLDING PATTERNS

SERIES 3, 1/5

HEREFORD

 16"  X 20"

Repurposed map  and text printed on silk,  stitched to artist-made and mixed papers

HOLDING PATTERNS

SERIES 5, 1/6

YORKSHIRE

13"  x13"

Collograph and resist printed,

handcolored repurposed text, stitched

HOLDING PATTERNS

SERIES 5, 1/6

DERBYSHIRE

13"  x13"

Collograph and resist printed, handcolored repurposed text, stitched

HOLDING PATTERNS

SERIES 6, 1/4

FOR THE USE OF THE SHERIFF

11 "  X 8"

Collograph and resist printed, handcolored repurposed text, stitched to artist-made and mixed papers

HOLDING PATTERNS

SERIES 7,  1/3

THE CANONS OF ST. PAUL'S I

11" x 9"

Digital photographs on paper and silk, stitched to collograph printed, artist-made abaca paper

 HOLDING PATTERNS

SERIES 7,  2/3

THE CANONS OF ST. PAUL'S II

11" x 9"

Digital photographs on paper and silk, stitched to collograph printed, artist-made abaca paper

 HOLDING PATTERNS

SERIES 7,  3/3

THE CANONS OF ST. PAUL'S III

11" x 9"

Digital photographs on paper and silk, stitched to collograph printed, artist-made abaca paper

HOLDING PATTERNS

SERIES 8,  1/4

INGOTS OF IRON

8" x 8"

Collograph prints, pen and ink drawings, altered text, mixed papers

HOLDING PATTERNS

SERIES 9,  1/10

BEER AND BUTTER

10" x 10"

Collograph prints, pen and ink drawings, altered text, watercolor,  mixed papers