Clare Rojas

Clare Rojas is a contemporary American artist known for her rich and compelling paintings.

Biography of Clare Rojas

Clare Rojas was born in 1976 in Columbus, Ohio. As a teenager, Rojas visited a nursing home, where she created portraits in pastel and oil and listened to the stories of her subjects.

She pursued a BFA degree in Printmaking from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and later earned an MFA degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her studies in printmaking at RISD informed her approach to color, layering, and size. In search of non-toxic paint, she found gouache, a medium that allowed her to paint in a manner akin to printmaking techniques.

Rojas is also a musician who performs guitar and banjo under the stage name Peggy Honeywell. She has released three albums, showcasing her musical talents alongside her artistic pursuits.

Clare Rojas's Art Style

Clare Rojas is "known for creating powerful folk-art-inspired tableaus that tackle traditional gender roles." Using vibrant geometric shapes and patterns reminiscent of quilt work, Rojas creates narrative paintings that explore the intricate relationships between men, women, society, and nature.

Each painted composition originates from a personal totemic form unrooted to figurative meaning but evocative of the shape of a drop of water or a mountain. This form has evolved over time, transitioning from an abstract shape that Rojas instinctively drew to a tangible element she started noticing in her everyday visual environment.

In recent years, Rojas has explored both abstract and figurative motifs, creating captivating and immersive narratives. Vibrant and vivid blocks of color, accompanied by carefully rendered lines and figurative laments, consistently emerge in her work, establishing a visual vocabulary that repeats and evolves. This unique visual language converges to shed light on scenes and spaces that are often overlooked in storytelling, typically fading into the background.