Starting next week, members of the campus community will have the opportunity to drop in on an artist at work. Between July 6 and 27, Claire Cowie will be at the Henry Gallery every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday from noon to 3 p.m. working on paintings and sculpture.
It鈥檚 all part of a residency at the gallery which includes an exhibit of Cowie鈥檚 past work, her open studio and a lecture on July 24. And this isn鈥檛 just any artist: Cowie is a graduate of the UW School of Art鈥檚 master鈥檚 program who now lives and works in Seattle.
鈥淚鈥檒l be working on a large watercolor on paper and a fairly large grouping of sculpture,鈥� Cowie says. 鈥淚鈥檒l also probably work on some smaller collage pieces that are made up of prints and drawings and pieces of paper and other materials.鈥�
During Cowie鈥檚 studio hours, visitors will be able to come by to watch her work and to ask questions if they wish. She鈥檚 looking forward to the interaction. In fact, the only difficulty the very voluble young woman sees is the possibility that she鈥檒l talk too much and not get enough work done.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I consulted with the gallery and made sure it would be okay for me to come work at other times than the posted hours,鈥� Cowie says. 鈥淚 do expect to do that.鈥�
At the tender age of 28, this is only the second residency Cowie has done, but her works have appeared in numerous exhibits. She credits an early start with moving her this far, this fast. Growing up in North Carolina, she decided at 13 that her local school was inadequate and began looking around for other opportunities. She first attended the North Carolina School of the Arts as a summer student, but then was able to get into the regular program and earned her high school diploma there.
鈥淭he teachers there really treated the students as professionals and took them seriously,鈥� Cowie says. 鈥淪o it was when I went there that I realized I loved making art and wanted to go on doing it and doing it well.鈥�
She went on to earn an undergraduate degree in art at Washington University St. Louis and then came to the UW.
鈥淚 was attracted here partly because of the city,鈥� Cowie says. 鈥淚 like the coast and I like the type of people who live here.鈥�
She also knew the work of two UW professors 鈥� ceramicist Akio Takamori and printmaker Shirley Scheier 鈥� and wanted to work with them. Both have become mentors and friends, as have Curt Labitske, Doug Jeck and Jamie Walker.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e helped me get lecturer positions at the University,鈥� Cowie says of these faculty. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e also come to shows, asking good questions long after I was a student, involving me in community events. Akio is always sending me things informing me about opportunities.鈥�
Thanks to the part-time teaching gigs, both here and at the Pratt Fine Art Center and the Bellevue Art Museum, Cowie has been able to afford a studio and to produce work on a regular basis. Her art has been described as constituting 鈥渁 fantastic world with its own internal logic.鈥�
Her sculptures, for example, can be of real creatures such as bears, but they鈥檙e usually distorted in some way. She also does hybrid animal-human combinations. Whatever they are, the sculptures are always presented in groups. Cowie says she thinks of the exhibit space as a public area like a park where a variety of figures interact in various ways.
鈥淚n the space at the Henry there鈥檚 this sort of shelf or platform connected to the wall that鈥檚 at eye level, and that鈥檚 where I鈥檒l put the sculptures,鈥� she explains. 鈥淭his is going to be a new thing because I鈥檓 going to be working on the pieces as I go and putting them in this space which will get changed constantly as I add to it and rearrange them. So I鈥檓 looking forward to dealing with what鈥檚 possible in the way these figures interact with each other and particularly what鈥檚 possible with how they may change and the constantly evolving relationships between them.鈥�
The watercolors, on the other hand, are a different experience for Cowie because there鈥檚 a minimal amount of actual painting with a lot of time delay in between. Looking at them, one is reminded of traditional Asian calligraphy, accomplished with a few brush strokes. She says working at the Henry may result in even simpler works because she won鈥檛 be going to the studio every day as she ordinarily does.
Cowie finds it difficult to talk about an overarching theme for her work. But she says, 鈥淚鈥檓 one of those people who make art because I have to for myself and I鈥檓 sure I would make it no matter what 鈥� even if I never made money or there was no audience. For me there鈥檚 a lot missing in normal everyday life in terms of the resolution of problems, my personal struggle with who I am and how I鈥檝e acted. I see art as a place to resolve questions and problems that come up in life in a way that also brings up new problems that are interesting. It鈥檚 this nice, ongoing struggle. One of my friends once called my work desperate and I took it as a compliment.鈥�
Stagings: Claire Cowie and the Monsen Photography Collection is an exhibit of Cowie鈥檚 past work that is already on display. Based on her interaction with the Monsen collection while helping to prepare a traveling exhibit, it includes Cowie鈥檚 photogravures insterspersed with some from the Monsen collection.
After Cowie鈥檚 residency ends, the open studio will be turned into an exhibit 鈥� to be called Flying Ladies of Leisure 鈥� of the work she produced while she was here.
Admission to the Henry is always free to faculty, staff and students.