Clementine Stoney Maconachie is a multidisciplinary artist based in Sydney, Australia. Her practice evokes beauty, simplicity and softness through organic forms and simple lines rendered in steel, wood and stone.
Renowned for her abstract totems and metalwork, Clementine’s body of work is an exploration of the possibility of contradiction between form and substance, balancing softness with rigidity to create figurative works which achieve both.
Here, we sit down with her to discuss the evolution of her practice, and how her connection to materials shapes each piece. From spontaneous sketches to the tactile experience of working with steel, she reveals how her intuition guides the creation of each artwork, often with unexpected and beautiful results.
Can you please tell us about your creative process? Has it changed since you first started?
My creative process hasn't really changed since I started making art. It has always been that I will have an idea and jot down a rough sketch. I always like to have a little sketch book or folded papers in my bag as you never know when an idea will come.
However, a lot of the pieces tend to take shape when I have my hands on the material. Sometimes a piece is fully realised in my imagination before I start but often a piece will come together as I am making, each fold informing the next or each carved piece informing the next.
How did you first start working with steel?
I first started working with steel in 2015 when I learnt to weld and started making furniture and fixtures for fashion showrooms.
Why is steel your chosen medium?
I immediately feel in love with steel. It’s fast to work with. I love how strong it is and how you can weld pieces together but also how malleable it can be. One of my favourite things to do is to take a cold flat piece of steel or metal and turn it into a soft gentle shape with a sense of movement.
Is there a common element, aesthetic or theme that runs through your work?
I think it is all quite minimal with clean lines but also organic and soft. There is also a play on contrasting hard with soft, as well as a play on balance.
Where do you find inspiration for your work?
I find inspiration everywhere. In nature and building materials in thoughts and ideas honestly anywhere and everywhere.
Could you describe a typical workday?
On a typical day I am up early writing emails and getting my three children ready for school. I then drop the two youngest children to school and head straight to the studio, grab a coffee and play/work until I need to collect them again.
Are there any artists, musicians or designers who have inspired your work, or who you admire?
Yes. I am inspired by Henri Matisse, Isamu Noguchi, Frida Kahlo, Georgia O’Keefe, Simon Gaiger, Constantin Brancusi, Margel Hinder and Barbara Hepworth.
What are you working on now? Do you have any upcoming projects that you are looking forward to?
I have just finished a few big projects this year, two solo shows in the USA and a group show in Paris, so now I’m catching up on a few commissions and playing around with a few new ideas.
Hopefully, I will do a solo show next year in Sydney so I will start working towards that and a new series of works next year as well.
If your studio could be anywhere, where would it be?
I would love a studio near the ocean. It would be so nice to have a dip at the end of the day or I would a love a big home studio on some land so I can pop over and tinker whenever I like and no travel times…but that would involve living out of Sydney, so maybe when I’m older and my kids have finished school.
Clementine's pieces are available online at the Kerrie-Ann Jones Gallery.
For more from Clementine, follow her at @the_visuals_.
