Artist uses architecture to describe the world

"Dystopia 1" by Clara Hoag

Clara Hoag had hit a wall.

Uninspired by her ceramic sculptures, Hoag needed a new visual language for her works of art. After sketching and drawing, she realized that, in order to move forward, she needed to remove the human form from her sculptures.

For her work in the “Master of Fine Arts Degree Candidates Exhibition” Hoag created works of art inspired by architecture, which she uses to describe the construction of people and the world. The show will feature a large installation of houses and buildings scattered around the floor, a collection of small and broken porcelain houses, a towering ceramic sculpture with a secret window and a grouping of prints and drawings made with graphite, coffee and spackling paste, among other materials.

“My process involves a lot of experimentation: over-firing clay, under-firing glazes, wedging raw materials into my clay, building with multiple clay bodies and gluing fragments of my work together post-firing,” said Hoag. She said the art in her exit show developed from the trial and error that came from “breaking the rules.”

Hoag has received two BFA degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is an MFA candidate at the University of Georgia. She has participated in both group and solo shows in Illinois, Georgia and Florida. She is represented by two galleries in Illinois, her home state.

Hoag uses her sculptures to describe her interest in human psychology. Her works of art deal with the nature of human life and how people can be “destructive, subversive, deceptive or profoundly good,” according to Hoag.

“My soaring skyscrapers, complex scaffolding, and accumulations of slum housing describe the complexity of 21st-century life—from the dynamic social structures that keep our world running to the systemic problems that oppress us every day,” said Hoag.

For Hoag, single buildings highlight both individuality and the mundane. Stability and fragility act as opposing forces seeking balance. Her works of art can be small or large, delicate or aggressive.

Hoag is currently applying to residency programs across the country. She hopes to travel in order to see new places and meet new people to help her learn about the “beauty, ugliness and mystery of the world.”

The “Master of Fine Arts Degree Candidates Exhibition” is on view at the Georgia Museum of Art March 16 to April 22, 2013, with an opening reception in conjunction with 90 Carlton: Spring on March 22. MFA Speaks is scheduled for March 21 at 5:30 p.m. and will feature the artists discussing their work.