Exhibitions
CLAIRE VASSORT: ROCKS AND ROOTS
Area 61 Gallery / 61 E. Main St. September 8, 2017 - October 15, 2017
Claire Vassort
Rocks and Roots | Claire Vassort | Paintings on Silk
The inspiration: "What do YOU see on a hike in the woods?"
Claire's eye automatically looks for elements that are odd, shapes that are disproportional, colors that jump out. Our regional outdoors scenery features countless arrangements of rocks, trees and impossible roots. She came up with the theme of Rocks and Roots as she realized how powerful these symbols are.
The odd shapes of tree trunks and roots tell of the history, the prosperity of a tree and possibly of trauma it had to endure. Yet, these eccentric, adaptive characteristics make its beauty. Roots are a symbol of their past, their heritage and greatly determine their future. Trees, as humans, cannot get away from their roots, nor can they live without them.
Rocks are an omnipresent trait in the Appalachian mountains. They also offer amazing displays of chaos or strange orchestration. Unlike the botanical world around them, they are a symbol of improbable change and strength. Unique interlacing of rocks and roots leads Claire's imagination in creating vignettes of our local, natural world. Her inspiration is almost always of metaphorical essence and refers to the human condition. The result is poetry on silk.
Silk painting and art have been present in Claire Vassort's life as a passion and a pillar for over 30 years. Her objective is to share a view with the public in the hope that the audience may see beauty in our natural surroundings and that in turn, more respect and appreciation may be given to the hand that feeds us. Another intention is to bring the outdoors into homes, so that our origins and our roots are remembered.
BIO:
A French native and teacher by trade, Claire started painting on silk when she was 16 years old. When she moved to the U.S. at age 23, she carried all her painting gear with her so that she could keep practicing her hobby and capture travel scenes. Her passion for flying hang gliders and travel took her all over the world from 1990 until 2006. She moved permanently to the United States in 1989 and to the Chattanooga, TN area in 2001. She was selected to be on the U.S. Women's Hang Gliding World Team numerous times. During this period painting was always in the back of her mind.
Her interests in flying, nature and the outdoors in general have had a major influence on her silk work, which has ethereal and spiritual dimensions..
