Claire Mc Dermott London, United Kingdom

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Claire Mc Dermott is a working-class artist whose research combines art, biophysics and the humanities through social and environmental issues, while her multidisciplinary skills created sculpture, photography, drawing, print and poems by making connections between plants, glass and air. As an environmentalist, she envisions a planet that shares and represents all cultures.

Claire Mc Dermott graduated with a Master’s in Art and Science from Central Saint Martins in 2020 and a Master of Research in Art and Humanities from the Royal College of Art 2022/3. Her thesis, titled Happenings, Sightings and a Plumed Seeds was based on her field observation where she re-named them as ‘sightings’, she made comparisons with her field observations (which she renamed as ‘sightings’) and Allan Kaprow's development of art happenings, as both phenomena could provide moments of enlightenment capable of transforming one’s perspective of the world. Mc Dermott is interested in biophysics; how a plumed seed mechanism functions during senescence, and its interactions with our atmosphere as it floats. She creates sculptures from her photography research and it was from her microscopic studies that she linked plant tissue such as the bristles of a plumed seed to resemble the transparency of glass. Her still-life photography looks to capture the deliberation of the spent flower to highlight a unique concealment of the delicate detail of its form. Mc Dermott's sculpture develops into plans of construction, using experiments to build visuals into conceptual idealism. Prioritising sustainability, she looks to refashion and repurpose glass and plants aiming to create an allurement by using light to enhance their vibrant colours, structure and texture. Her recent photography research has led to exploring dimensions found within to create a semi-transparent effect of Sculptural Environments of Translucent Boundary. McDermott’s artistic practice highlights social and environmental issues, envisioning a planet that shares and represents all cultures within a community. Inspired by nature; being aware of what forms the bigger picture, to look wider and think of the airborne motes and plastic particles that float with the plumed seed. Using this methodology, she uses transparent boundaries to hold the curiosity of a discovery with a recognition of reparative humanistic views. She has exhibited at Tate Exchange, Watford Museum, UCLH, Cooke Latham Gallery, Beaconsfield Gallery, South Park Galleries and the Safehouse, with her current solo exhibition at Headstone Manor and Museum, London until 2nd February 2025. Mc Dermott has been awarded residencies with SLoAS, AA2A, Sculpture Symposium 2016 and Cill Rialaig Arts Centre, Ireland where her microscopic illustrations are held in their collection. Her public sculpture titled ‘The Meeting Tree’ is installed at Newton Farm Ecology Park, London. She was featured in Phi Magazine, The Pluralist’s and the Earthwise book. She has received in-kind support from the Port of London Authority, Central Saint Martins, UAL and has received grants from The Eaton Fund, Gane Trust, UAL Student Union and the Arts Council England.