Born in 1972 in Southampton, United Kingdom.
Lives and works in Hereford.
Clare Woods was elected a Royal Academician in 2022. She received a BA in Fine Art Sculpture from Bath School of Art in 1994 and an MA in Fine Art from Goldsmith’s College in 1999.
Originally trained as a sculptor, much of Woods’ work is occupied with exploring physical form in two-dimensional space. Her paintings are essentially concerned with sculpting an image in paint, and expressing the strangeness of an object.
Woods’ choice of subject matter is primarily based on an intuitive response to found photographic source material, which in recent years has moved from a fascination with subconscious expressions of anxiety in the landscape to explorations of the figure and human head, often in a metamorphic state of psychological tension. Woods is concerned with the relevance of the art of the past to contemporary practice and significant references in her work have included Paul Nash, Jean Fautrier, Barbara Hepworth and Eduardo Paolozzi. Using oil on aluminium she manipulates qualities of flatness and three-dimensionality, twisting foreground and background to create nuanced and surreal imagery that connects the viewer to subconscious states of mind.
The artist was commissioned by the Contemporary Art Society to create a permanent ceramic mural for the London 2012 Olympic Park, and in 2015 a painting for Aarhus VIA University College, Denmark. Notable past solo exhibitions include Norrtälje Konsthall, Sweden (2024); CCA Andratx, Mallorca (2023); Serlachius Museums, Finland (2022); Mead Gallery, Warwick Arts Centre (2018); Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, Scotland, UK (2017); Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, UK (2016); Hestercombe Gallery, Somerset, UK (2016); Harewood House, Leeds, UK (2013); Southampton City Art Gallery, Southampton, UK (2012) and Hepworth Wakefield, West Yorkshire, UK (2011). ‘A Tree A Rock A Cloud’ toured around museum venues in Wales from Oriel Davies Gallery, Newtown, Wales, UK (2014–2016).
Her work is found in major public collections including Buffalo AKG Art Museum, USA; Arken Museum of Modern Art, Denmark; Arts Council Collection, UK; British Council Collection, UK; Dakis Joannou Collection Foundation, Greece; Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, UK; Government Art Collection, UK; He Art Museum, China; Hepworth Wakefield, UK; Holburne Museum, UK; Jerwood Collection, UK; Royal Collection Trust, UK; Serlachius Museums, Finland; Southampton City Art Gallery, UK; Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, UK; The National Museum of Wales, UK; Towner Eastbourne, UK and University of Warwick, Mead Gallery Collection, UK.
