As an artist I am curious about how we interact with and place value on the objects in our lives. Why do we impose human feelings towards certain things? How do they communicate with us through their materiality and decoration? My work investigates our cultural relationship with objects by pulling on the rich history of the decorative arts to decode the language of objects, and challenge the myth of history that they exist in.
Artist Biography
Clare Finin is an artist, researcher, and non-profit hustler currently based in Philadelphia, PA. She holds an MFA in Metal/Studio Art with a graduate minor in Art History from the University of Illinois UrbanaChampaign and BFA in Metalsmithing + Jewelry with a minor in Art History from the Maine College of Art. Her studio work and research focuses on the intersection of craft and art, decoration, and memory.
Education
2016 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL MFA, Studio Art/Metal Graduate Minor in Art History
2013 Maine College of Art, Portland, ME BFA, Metalsmithing + Jewelry Minor in Art History
Extended Education
2016 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL Knitting Social, Mark Newport Random-Woven Copper Forms | Twining with Waxed Linen (workshop), Ann Coddington Rast
2015 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL Leather Working for Jewelry (workshop), Adriane Donley
2014 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL Tankards (workshop), Jeffery Clancy
2013 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL Eyewear (workshop), Sungyeoul Lee Enamel Under/Over Glaze and Decals (workshop), Jessica Calderwood
2012 Maine College of Art, Portland, ME Goldsmithing (class), Gary Rowe
Peters Valley Craft Center, Layton, NJ Cloisonné Enameling (class), Harlan Butt
2011 Portland, ME Wax Carving (class), Kate Wolf
Main College of Art, Portland, ME Drawing with Enamel (workshop), Barbra Seidenath
2010 University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Dartmouth, MA Non-Traditional Enameling (workshop), Troy Hines
2005 Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA Sculptural Steel Welding (class), Steve Nocella
Moore College of Art, Philadelphia, PA Fine Metal Casting (class)
Awards & Honors
2016 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL Art + Design Graduate Event Travel Award
2015 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award Creative Research Award
2014 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL Creative and Performing Arts Materials Grant
2013 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL James Avery Fellowship
2009 - 2013 Maine College of Art, Portland, ME Challenge Award
2012 Maine College of Art, Portland, ME Artist to Artist Award
2011 Maine College of Art, Portland, ME Endowed Scolarship
Bibliography
Publications
2015 Finin, Clare. "The Spaces In Between: Tamsen Wojtanowski's and Elaine Livingstone's Yard", Catalog Essay, NAPOLEON, Philadelphia, PA
2014 Finin, Clare. "On Being Young, or Criticality in 21st Century Academia", Art Jewelry Forum, August 2014
Publication of Work
2016 Sentimenteel Haar, Textiel Plus, February 2016
2015 Raben, Olga. The Contemporary Jewelry Exchange 2015
2013 Open House, Promotional Postcard, Maine College of Art, Portland, ME
Art/Identity, Show promotion image, Gallery 263, Cambridge, MA
Affiliation
Associations and Memberships
Art Jewelry Forum Society of North American Goldsmiths
Professional Experience
2019 - Present InLiquid, Philadelphia, PA Program Manager
2017 - 2019 The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, PA Digital Archives Assistant
2015 Metal Guild at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL Fundraising Coordinator
Ongoing Project: Digitize/Historicize, Wikipedia
2014 - 2015 Sienna Patti, Lenox, MA Gallery Associate
Art Jewelry Forum Research Assistant
2013 - 2015 Metal Store at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL Liaison
2013 - 2015 Metals Guild at The University of Illinois, Champaign, Il President and Treasurer
2014 Melanie Bilenker, Philadelphia, PA Assistant
Exhibitions
Solo
2012 Heirlooms, Maine College of Art, Portland, ME
Group
2016 [In]Tangible, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI Juried
Master of Fine Arts, Krannert Art Museum, Urbana, IL
Flirtations, Building 5, Urbana, IL Juried
ABC@WFG, Woodstock Framing Gallery, Woodstock, NY Invitational
Obsession, Greenville Museum of Art, Greenville, NC Juried
2015 Context, Foundry Art Centre, Saint Charles, MO Juried
Form, Forge, Fabricate, The University Museum, Carbondale, IL Juried
Wet Hot Illinois Summer Vol. II, The Link Gallery, Urbana, IL
Adorned Spaces, Society of North American Goldsmiths, Boston, MA
VARiANT, The Link Gallery, Urbana, IL
Failure, Des Lee Gallery, Saint Louis, MO Juried
2014 H&, The Link Gallery, Urbana, IL
Sans Hiatus, The Link Gallery, Urbana, IL
Unravel & Sophisticate, University of Georgia, Athens, GA Invitational
Art From the Heartland, Indianapolis Art Center, Indianapolis, IN Juried
2013 Small Worlds, Target Gallery at The Torpedo Factory, Alexandria, VA Juried
43rd Mid-States Craft Exhibition, Evansville Museum, Evansville, IN Juried
That Silky Smooth Feeling, Gray Duck Gallery, Austin, TX Invitational
Art/Identity,Gallery 263, Cambridge, MA Juried
Reminiscential, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston, TX Invitational
Mementos, Common Street Arts, Waterville, ME Juried
Boomerang, Maine College of Art, Portland, ME
2012 BFA Show, Maine College of Art, Portland, ME
Alloy, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Dartmouth, MA
Merit Show, Maine College of Art, Portland, ME
2011 BFA Show, Maine College of Art, Portland, ME
2005 Steel, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
