Artist Statement + Bio

I use a dense, busy visual language in my sculptures and drawings to describe the complexity of the human body and mind. When I work, I think about how every person is a collection of their senses, experiences, surroundings, and stuff. That is compelling to me – so, in my work, I use a visual language of accumulation to talk about that philosophical idea.

In much of my work, this language is primarily architectural, suggesting a parallel between a body and a building or city. Homeward Bound and Sailor embody that aesthetic, with pipes and scaffolding juxtaposing bold swaths of white, blue, and yellow. Tattooed snakes, banners, and anchors suggest milestones and travel, while windows speak to the spiritual idea of “windows to the soul.” In other pieces, the inclusion of sculpted toys expands this visual language further: Hunk and Bubble have colorful balls and lego-like apartment buildings hovering around each figure in a flurry; in Darling, polka dots play on the surface of a contemplative head. These works suggest a world that is both chaotic and delightful – like a ball pit - while the density of these components illustrates the human condition as one of turmoil, equilibrium, and joy.

I work primarily in clay because it speaks to the idea of “building” or of being “built” —literally, metaphorically, and philosophically. When I work, I consider bricks, adobe, and the history of architecture; the history of figuration in art (especially medieval iconography and sculpted deities); and the use of ‘clay’ in American folk songs as a metaphor for unsteady footing, a lost love, and the inevitability of change. In my drawings and photographs, I use the flexibility of each process and medium to explore composition and expand my visual language.

Ultimately, my work is about finding awe and beauty in the immensity of our existence: The landscape looks fragile, but it holds; vulnerability and resilience fight, constantly seeking balance. The gravity-defying quality of each figure, the ambivalent, anxious, or calm demeanor in each face, and the dense accumulation of shapes and forms enhances and reinforces that idea. Each figure is emblematic of the process of “living” – of trial and tribulation, failure and success, and the unstoppable progress of time, pushing us forward like a snowball rolling down a hill; the things we pick up along the way are cobbled and etched into our being.






Clara Hoag is an artist and teacher living and working in Houston, TX (USA). Clara has been a resident artist at The Archie Bray Foundation (Helena, MT) and The Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (TX); she has received grants from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation (Canada), The Puffin Foundation (New Jersey), and the Houston Arts Alliance; and she has shown extensively in group and solo exhibitions in the United States. Clara received two BFAs from the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) in 2009, and she received her MFA in Ceramics from the University of Georgia (Athens) in 2013. Clara teaches ceramics as a full-time professor at Houston City College.