Previous Exhibitions
In The Glow Of Green, solo exhibition, Tweed Regional Gallery and Margaret Olley Art Centre, Murwillumbah, NSW
4 August – 26 November 2023
My two-week residency on Bundjalung Country, based at the Nancy Fairfax AIR studio at the Tweed Regional Gallery in September 2022, was a deeply immersive research period. It was full to the brim with walking, writing, photographing, drawing, thinking, smelling, feeling, being. Every day I went to one of the close by national parks including Springbrook NP, Border Ranges NP and Lamington NP, and I walked for hours. I walked not in the usual way that I walk, briskly, pushing my body, feeling my muscles work, but slowly, carefully, quietly, stopping frequently, silently electrified by my surroundings.
The exhibition I am creating from this time to be shown at Tweed Regional Gallery in August 2023 will be a collection of studies expressed in small to medium-sized glass objects carrying my version of the patterns, rhythms and textures that I experienced. It was the detail of surface growths and coverings that I was drawn to, particularly moss, lichen and bark, of which there were rich pickings. I experienced these as part of the the layering of time, the life, death and decay and re-generation that was ever present in the forests, my eyes and total being drenched in the glow of green.
In The Glow Of Green, group, 2023, showing at Tweed Regional Gallery
GOLD: 50 Years 50 JamFactory Alumni, a group exhibition featuring 50 artists, JamFactory, Adelaide, SA
21 July – 17 September 2023
This is the largest group exhibition I’ve ever been in. Lots of wonderful artists with all of them, including myself, have been through the JamFactory’s training programs sometime in the last 50 years.
Low Tide, Gold on Tourmaline I, 2023, showing at JamFactory
All Rhythm, solo exhibition, Sabbia Gallery, Sydney
28 April – 20 May
This will be a launch of my newest work. Here’s my artists’ statement for the show.
The rhythms of the natural world continue to draw me in, shifting and expanding my experience of time. It’s like the bush or forest is textured with different kinds of time. I feel this through the majesty and movement of tree-life, the softness and subtlety of surface growths like lichen and moss, the colours and textures of an understorey. Inspired and energised by these experiences my view is from close up, focussing on the detail both real and imagined.
Low Tide, Gold on Eel Green I – showing in All Rhythm at Sabbia Gallery
Interior Landscapes, Craft Victoria, Melbourne
2 February – 4 March 2023
Watson Place, Melbourne, Victoria
This exhibition has been a long time coming, and I’m really looking forward to it. Co-curated by Margaret Hancock Davis and Holly Grace, I’m super excited to be showing alongside; Jessica Loughlin, Brendan Scott French, Ruth Fatt, Jimmy Donegan, Kirstie Rea and Holly Grace, all of whom have spent most of their artistic lives investigating relationship to land and country and developing the language of glass for personal expression. This is part one of a bigger exhibition that will be presented at the Ebletoft Museum in Denmark in 2024.
Awash, solo exhibition at Soneva Fushi, Maldives
21 December 2022 – 2 Feb 2023
This solo exhibition is the result of my three week residency at Soneva Fushi. I worked with the Soneva Art and Glass team in their hot glass studio using recycled glass from bottles used on the island. It was an amazing project! Even though I had to hit the ground running as three weeks is a very short time to produce a body of work for exhibition, I was soaking in as much as I could of the environment; the colours of the water and the sky in particular. That combination of softness, of air, of light, of tones and of drama, big skies, fronts rolling over from the horizon was breathtaking. Under water was also another immersive experience as well as the intensity of plant life of the jungle. There was a lot to take inspiration from, and I loved it.
Art Toronto 2022
Presented by Sandra Ainsley Gallery
27 – 30 October
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
I am excited to start working with Sandra Ainsley Gallery. We are kicking it off with a selection of my work to be shown as part of the Gallery’s presentation at Toronto’s premier art fair, Art Toronto. I’m really thrilled to be connecting with a new audience in Canada.
Quiet Shifting Green and Gold – Art Toronto
PAD Art + Design, London 2022
Presented by Adrian Sassoon
10 – 16 October 2022
Berkley Square, Mayfair London
This week-long art fair in the heart of London showcases an international selection of 20th-century and contemporary design. Adrian Sassoon Gallery will present my work alongside artists from the UK, Denmark, Japan, Korea, Italy, Germany and other Australian artists, all working across a range of materials. It’s a truly exciting context for me and my work.
Light Time, Dark Grey – PAD Art + Design
Clare Belfrage at Adelaide Railway Station
30 November 2021 – 4 April 2022
Working with non-traditional spaces for exhibiting artwork is often a refreshing challenge. This project, presented by JamFactory has allowed me to think about presenting my work in a very different way. I have used the five historic phone booths located in Adelaide’s Railway Station to focus on a theme or a scene to capture a different view of the natural world. The theme for each booth is; Monolith, Lichen and Moss, Ironbarks, Majesty and UnderStory. It’s great to take my work out of the gallery and into a dynamic public space.
UnderStory Collection at Adelaide Railway Station.
Melbourne Design Fair
16 – 20 March 2022
Melbourne Design Week has been running since 2017, building its program every year. The Melbourne Design Fair is an exciting new addition to the program this year and my work will be part of JamFactory’s presentation of South Australian Artists and Designers.
PREVIEW – Sydney Contemporary at Sabbia Gallery, Sydney
13 October – 3 November 2021
Sydney Contemporary at Carriageworks has been cancelled but happily, Sabbia’s planned presentation of works is now going to be shown at Sabbia Gallery itself accompanied by a great digital catalogue. I’m so pleased to be showing with a fabulous group of artists working across; glass, ceramics, painting and works on paper. They are: Pippin Drysdale, Jenni Kemarre Martiniello, Nick Mount, Mrs Fatt, Jimmy Donnegan and Selinda Davidson from Ninuku Arts, Carlene Thompson and Tjunkaya Tapaya.
Toyama International Glass Exhibition, Toyama Glass Art Museum, Japan
10 July – 3 October 2021
I’m thrilled to be selected into this international Triennial of contemporary art made from glass from 52 countries across the world. This is the second iteration of this prestigious exhibition. It hopes to bring together the latest achievements in glass art and showcase a range of perspectives from around the world. Toyama is known as a city of glass, housing the Toyama Glass art museum and the Toyama Institute of Glass. Can’t wait to visit one of these days!
The Study, a group exhibition at Sabbia Gallery, Sydney
17 March – 10 April 2021
A time-honoured device used by artists to plan for larger works, a study is a smaller work that allows the artists to explore the elements of the piece so that they are able to finesse the work at the planning stage. As one of Sabbia’s artists, I was invited to create or release smaller-scale study pieces for this exhibition. I made two intimate “collections” of work for this delightful exhibition.
Artist Talk – In Conversation with Dr Lisa Slade, Assistant Director, Art Gallery of South Australia.
21 February 2021
Millicent Gallery, Millicent, South Australia last venue of Clare’s 3-year tour of, A Measure of Time, JamFactory Icon exhibition
A Measure of Time. JamFactory Icon touring Exhibition, Millicent Gallery, SA
12 February to 21 March 2021
The tour continues! This will be the twelfth venue for my solo exhibition that has been on tour throughout Australia since August 2018. Being one of JamFactory’s Icons has been a fantastic opportunity for me, and I’ve really enjoyed visiting most of the venues. The series celebrates the achievements of South Australia’s most influential artists working in craft-based media.
FUSE Glass Prize, Australian Design Centre, Sydney.
October 2020
In its third iteration, I am delighted to be a finalist in JamFactory’s FUSE Glass Prize for Australian and New Zealand glass. It’s an exciting new prize in the arts landscape, and I was very honoured to be the inaugural winner in 2016.
This year the finalist’s exhibition not only showed in Adelaide and Seppeltsfield but has travelled to Sydney for an exhibition at the Australian Design Centre. It’s great to bring it to a bigger audience.
Adrian Sassoon at Sotheby’s London, Sotheby’s London, UK
October 2020
What a great initiative and partnership: Adrian Sassoon Gallery and Sotheby’s London presenting a stunning collection of artworks from internationally renowned artists from around the world.
Deep Skin, solo exhibition at Sabbia Gallery, Sydney
September 2020
Galleries, as well as artists, have been really challenged this year to make and present work and to connect with audiences. I was so pleased to be able to create this exhibition, work with the great team at Sabbia Gallery and share it with people both online and physically in the gallery.
Maintaining my connection to the natural world seems as important as ever but perhaps with a new kind of urgency attached. I am moved and inspired by forces in nature that are quiet and gentle, powerful and profound.
Fresh Air, Traver Gallery, Seattle, USA
August 2020
Thoughtfully curated this mixed media exhibition invites viewers to pause and contemplate beauty in the natural world.
TEFAF 2020 Maastricht, Netherlands, Adrian Sassoon, London, UK
March 2020
No doubt this is one of Europe’s most prestigious and stunning art fairs to be presented each year. Every artwork is vetted by a panel of experts. Fine art, antiques and design ranging from Old Master paintings and classical antiquities through to contemporary art and design are presented by over 275 galleries from across the world.
Tom Malone Glass Prize, Art Gallery of Western Australia, WA
March to September 2020
Fourteen finalists were chosen for this year’s Tom Malone Prize, an acquisitive award presented by the Art Gallery of Western Australia. I was thrilled once again to have work selected.
Annual Gallery Artist Group Exhibition, Traver Gallery, Seattle, USA
January 2020
Glass, ceramics, stone, wood and plaster are some of the key materials utilised in this group exhibition showcasing a breadth of concerns, sensibilities and styles of Traver Gallery’s artists.
SOFA Chicago, Traver Gallery, USA
November 2019
Showing alongside fellow Australian artist, Mel Douglas, and Hong Kong/American artist Ling Chun is a very exciting proposition. I love having my work shown in different contexts both in the type of event and also in the company of other artists work.