Photo by Aok Palad
BIOGRAPHY
Clara Congdon (she/her) is an artist based in Montreal, Canada whose practice includes textiles, drawing, painting, artists’ books, and mail art. She has presented work across North America and recently participated in the Can Serrat International Contemporary Art Residency in El Bruc, Spain. Clara writes about art and life in her newsletter, Practising.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Since childhood, I have been fascinated by practical and aesthetic applications of cloth and paper. Within my practice, I manipulate these everyday materials to create tactile repositories for thoughts, collections, and chronologies. In resistance to the sense of entitlement to perpetual newness that prevails within consumer culture, I work with the unlimited potential of castoff remnants that would otherwise go to waste. Elements such as discernible hand stitching ensure that manual process is emphasized and celebrated rather than concealed. I approach cloth as a means to collage, and thread as both a structural and mark-making implement. My interests lie in exploring and expanding on simple sensory encounters with the material world, such as flipping through the pages of a book or drawing open a curtain.
CLARA CONGDON
b. 1991, Ottawa ON
EDUCATION
2013 Bachelor of Fine Arts in Textiles/Fashion, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University, Halifax NS
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
2023 Diary Quilting with Heidi Parkes, online course (4 weeks)
2022 CELTA Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, ILSC, Montreal QC (120 hrs)
2021 edX Verified Certificate in Reconciliation Through Indigenous Education, UBCx, Vancouver BC (24 hrs)
2018 Artch Workshop Series, Montreal QC (35 hrs)
SELECT SOLO, DUO, & GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021 Measures of Absence, Inverness County Centre for the Arts, Inverness NS
2018 - 2020 Art of the Book 2018, juried touring exhibition, Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild
Andrew & Laura McCain Art Gallery, Florenceville-Bristol NB
Craft Ontario, Toronto ON
McLennan Library Building, McGill University, Montreal QC
Galerie du Centre culturel franco-manitobain, Winnipeg MB
Creation Cube, George Bothwell Branch, Regina Public Library, Regina SK
University of Alberta Fine Arts Building Gallery, Edmonton AB
University of the Fraser Valley Library, Abbotsford BC
Audain Gallery, Victoria BC
2019 Calendar: December 2019, online solo exhibition, Owens Art Gallery, Sackville NB
2019 Réminiscences, Le Livart, Montreal QC
2019 All Stitched Up, Collins Memorial Library, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma WA
2018 Asma A. Khan & Clara Congdon, Monastiraki, Montreal QC
2017 Underpinnings: Celebrating 130 Years of NSCAD, Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax NS
2017 Who Are You?, The Red Head Gallery, Toronto ON
2017 Beyond, Espace POP, Montreal QC
2017 Handy Books, University of Iowa Center for the Book, Iowa City IA
2013 Volume 1, solo exhibition, Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax NS
2013 NSCAD Graduation Exhibition, Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax NS
2012 Major Change, Seeds Gallery, Halifax NS
ART FAIRS
2020 Volume 3 MTL: Art and the Book, virtual fair, Montreal QC
2019 What the Pop! : Plateau, WIP Gallery, Montreal QC
2018 Expozine, Église Saint-Arsène, Montreal QC
2018 Volume 1 MTL: Art and the Book, Société des arts technologiques (SAT), Montreal QC
2018 Artch: Art contemporain émergent, Dorchester Square, Montreal QC
2018 What the Pop! : Mile Ex, Eastern Bloc, Montreal QC
2018 CBBAG Book Arts Show and Sale, Glebe Community Centre, Ottawa ON
COMMUNITY PROJECT PARTICIPATION
2024 Art & Parkinson, Galerie Angers, Montreal QC
2020 - 2024 The Sweetest Little Thing, fundraising auction, Owens Art Gallery & Struts Gallery, Sackville NB
2023 Assembling Recipes for Sustainability, Centre for Sustainable Curating, Western University, London ON
2021 P.S., mail art exhibition fundraiser, Inverness County Centre for the Arts, Inverness NS
2021 #cecinestpasàvendre, Thierry du Bois, Montreal QC
2019 - 2020 Parle-moi d'amour Centre Wellington, fundraising auction, Les Impatients, Montreal QC
2020 We Live in Real Time, Printed Matter, Inc., New York NY
2019 The Sketchbook Project Vol. 14, Brooklyn Art Library, Brooklyn NY
2018 Shubenacadie River Beading Project, Carrie Allison, Treaty Space Gallery, Halifax NS
2017 Sesquicentennial Quilt, Canadian Craft Biennial, Art Gallery of Burlington, Burlington ON
2013 23rd Wearable Art Show, HNS Down Syndrome Society's Team Possibles, Spatz Theatre, Halifax NS
2012 22nd Wearable Art Show, HNS Down Syndrome Society's Team Possibles, Halifax Forum, Halifax NS
PUBLICATIONS
2023 - Present Practising, Substack
2022 Zine 0005 - Collaboration, Ottawa Design Club
2021 100 More Art Prompts, The Sketchbook Project
2020 YOU BETCHA IRIS 3 : Nat King Pole, Clara Congdon
2019 YOU BETCHA IRIS 2 : Lizzy Strange, Clara Congdon
2019 All Stitched Up Exhibition Catalog, University of Puget Sound
2019 Emotional Magazine Issue #2
2019 YOU BETCHA IRIS 1 : Anaconda LaSabrosa, Clara Congdon
2019 Folio: Clara Congdon, Broken Pencil Magazine Issue #82
2018 L'oubli No. 3, Clara Congdon
2018 L'oubli No. 2, Clara Congdon
2018 Art of the Book 2018 Exhibition Catalogue, Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild
2018 L'oubli No. 1, Clara Congdon
2017 Le Shindig Edition 3: Holy Fêtes, Le Shindig Collective
2017 Canadian Craft Biennial: Community Projects, Art Gallery of Burlington
2013 2013 Graduation Catalogue, NSCAD University
2012 Free Coffee 2012, Student Union of Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University (SUNSCAD)
ARTIST TALKS
2020 A Series of Small Things Brought Together: Textiles and the Book Form, Volume 3 MTL, Montreal QC
2013 Volume 1, Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax NS
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2022 - Present Teacher, English as a Second Language, LET, Montreal QC
2016 - 2017 Studio Coordinator, SSENSE, Montreal QC
2015 - 2016 Set Coordinator, SSENSE, Montreal QC
2015 Costume Designer, Nuclear Sky: The Experiment, Title 66 Productions, Montreal QC
2014 Production & Design Intern, Denis Gagnon, Montreal QC
2013 Costume Stitcher, Two Planks and a Passion Theatre Company, Canning NS
2013 Set Construction Assistant, Mocean Dance, Halifax NS
2011 - 2012 Gallery Assistant, Seeds Gallery, Halifax NS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2020 Beyond the Page: Clara Congdon, Alison Pirie, Brooklyn Art Library, 15 Jun. 2020
2019 Artist Portrait: Clara Congdon, Aok Palad, Aug. 2019
2019 Artists Illuminated: Clara Congdon, Lital Khaikin, ELAN Quebec, 12 Feb. 2019
2018 La relève en art contemporain, Evelyne Charuest, Gravel le matin, ICI Radio-Canada, 28 Sept. 2018
2017 Handy Books, Julia Leonard, Book Arts | arts du livre Canada, Vol. 8, No. 2
2013 Canvas by NSCAD, The Chronicle Herald, 10 Aug. 2013
2012 Major Change, Marilyn Smulders, NSCAD University News, 9 Mar. 2012
GRANTS, RESIDENCIES & AWARDS
2022 Can Serrat International Contemporary Art Residency, El Bruc, Spain
2019 - 2020 Young Volunteers Project Grant, Emploi Québec, Montreal QC
2018 Production Grant, Artch, Montreal QC
2013 Dean’s List, NSCAD University, Halifax NS
2013 Margó Marshall Award for Textiles, NSCAD University, Halifax NS
2013 Wearable Art Show Scholarship, NSCAD University, Halifax NS
2012 MacAdam Trust Scholarship, NSCAD University, Halifax NS
COLLECTIONS
ARCMTL, Montreal QC
Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, Montreal QC
Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa ON
Pride Library, Western University, London ON
Scott Library, York University, North York ON
AFFILIATIONS
2017 - Present English Language Arts Network (ELAN) Quebec, Montreal QC
2017 - 2021 Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild (CBBAG), Toronto ON