Clare Phelan

About Clare Phelan

Clare works directly with nineteenth and twentieth century coding technologies, such as music box discs, textile jacquards, pianola rolls and IBM punch cards, exploring narratives of man and machine. Found objects of paper and card are used to create collagraph prints, the textural qualities of these artefacts are heightened through this process. Photo etching onto metal music box discs provides a way to translate detailed surface information into printmaking. Faded and sometimes fragile, often rusted and warped, ripped and torn, these ‘host’ materials have presence and a history, they impact upon the senses and are the ancestors of our digital world. Living and working in the post-industrial Pennine heartland of West Yorkshire provides constant inspiration and research opportunities for her work. Winner of the Scott Creative Arts Foundation Emerging Artist Award 2019, Clare was also shortlisted for the Flourish Award for Excellence in Printmaking 2017 and the London Contemporary Art Prize 2019.