Claire Malet is a Metal Artist & Silversmith, working in precious, non-precious metals and found-metals. Her work is inspired by the textures and shapes of natural forms and landscapes: fragments of sea-worn shells, the rock formations of a battered coastline, a curl of split bark, the dancing light and shadow of woodland, the line of a horizon. Malet also draws inspiration directly from the characteristics of the medium, working intuitively, allowing the metal to suggest a direction and to find a relationship with the subject matter.
1) Which art movement do you consider most influential on your practice?
I would say that individual artists rather than movements are more influential, but Land Art has always been an inspiration.
2) Where do you go and when to make your best art?
My best pieces are made in my head when I'm out walking the hills and woods around my studio. Walking is an essential part of my creative day. My studio is in my garden, I work best in the afternoons and evenings: in the winter the countryside darkness is somehow calming, the wood-burner keeps me cosy; in the summer with long light evenings, the windows open, there is a sense of energy.
3) How do you describe your 'creative process'?
I work intuitively, bringing together inspiration found in natural forms and landscapes, with the properties and characteristics of the materials I use.
4) Which artist, living or deceased, is the greatest inspiration to you?
To name one is impossible! Pamela Rawnsley, Peter Randall-Page, Kurt Jackson, Samuel Palmer, John Virtue, Anthony Caro, Julie Blyfield.
5) If you weren't an artist, what would you do?
Walk.
6) What do you listen to for inspiration?
I listen to the radio in the studio, as 'background' not as inspiration, music can be distracting, changing my mood unhelpfully! When I'm not working, favourite artists include Salif Keita, Marta Sebestyen, Bob Dylan, Andy Sheppard, Miles Davis, Trombone Shorty, Angelique Kidjo.
7) If you could own one artwork, and money was no object, which piece would you acquire?
What a question! I would have to have Anthony Caro's 'Trojan War' sculptures.
8) If your dream museum or collection owner came calling, which would it be?
It is always a great honour to have a piece placed in a museum collection, and I am very lucky to have work in some public galleries; but I would like anyone who enjoys my work to have a piece, small or larger collectors, private or public.
9) What is your key piece of advice for artists embarking on a fine art or creative degree today?
'Stay on the bus', as Grayson Perry said.
10) What is your favourite book of all time (fiction or non-fiction)?
Again, it is impossible to name one, currently, I am engrossed in books by Robert Macfarlane and Edward Thomas, who I started ready while researching for a recent commission, and got hooked! Other favourite writers include Annie Proulx, Russell Hoban, Proust, Peter Carey, Jennifer Egan, Philip Roth, James Hamilton-Paterson, Ted Hughes.
11) If you could hang or place your artwork in one non-traditional art setting, where would that be?
A steelworks or a copper mine.
12) What was the biggest lesson your university course or time studying taught you?
To be decisive, to choose an idea and see it through.
13) And finally, if we were to fast forward 10 years, where would we find you?
In my studio, hopefully having extended it.
