Clara Bloch Jensen
Portfolio of practice
As a child, an old polar bear hunter told me about the cavities in the icebergs. These were inhabited by Tupilaqs and other sinister creatures. Therefore, one should pay close attention when approaching the icebergs, with great respect.
Artist statement I consider myself an explorer on a scientific field trip searching for the essence, like an archaeologist digging for traces, collecting objects, fragments and analysing them. I feel a connection between the object and me - part of the same story - touching historical time and feeling it flow through the object directly into my body. The fragments suggest something, a distinct aura of previous life, of voices, of death. My artistic practice begins right here, Communicating, Connecting and Sensing the material with my brain, my hands and body. I am capturing shadows and ghosts on the edge of my consciousness, giving them physical form. I was born in the deepest winter, north of the polar circle between snow, ice, and darkness. Along snow-covered coastlines, right on the edge of the Arctic sea. Out of this environment I get my creative energy, on the border between the real and the unreal. In this frozen zone there are stories lurking, only waiting to be captured and told.
Me in Greenland collecting reindeer antlers
Capturing shadows As a childe I lived on the west coast of Greenland in a small village, Kangaamiut. A village of Polar bear hunters and their families living here right on the Arctic costline. This village is known throughout Greenland for its skilled artists. They cut fabled animals out of the bones from their hunting animals. These small sculptures are called Tupilak and possess a magical power that brings either luck or disaster. My practice is strongly tied to this ivory carving tradition. The idea that an object possess magical energy runs like a fine tread throughout my artistic work.
I am also a collector. Always interacting with found objects. It is the smallest objects I am preoccupied with, where the weathered and decaying character of the material have a strong presence. I love the thrilling sensation in my hand of warmth or cool, the rough or smooth surface, how the shape progresses, and the curves are stretched out. I have a particular respect for the natural form. Eroded bones have a direct physical memory which I am very intrigued by.
Objects from the shores of the Thames. Pipe heads, pipe stems and old glass.
Tupilak. Ivory from hvaleross. Greenlandic artist
Thames liquid history The river runs deep beneath me, grim and grey it flows out towards the sea. Washes the city clean with its perpetual pulse of tides 4 times a day. On the shore, everything suddenly becomes hush and quiet. The city envelops me but seems distant and indifferent. At first glance, it is any coastline with rounded stones, birds and costal vegetation - though exotic with its location in the heart of Europe’s largest metropolis, London.
Ne’er saw I, never felt, a calm soo deep The river glideth at his own sweet will Dear God! The very houses seem asleep And all that mighty heart is lying still ! (Wordsworth 1802)
I was holding history: A fragment of a clay pipe, not of great political events, but of very small things, from an individual living in aincent times, who had broken his pipe and chucked it into the river. There is a connection here, between him and me,
As my eyes get used to the surroundings, I see potshards everywhere monochrome blue with Chinese pagodas and human silhouettes, beautifully aged by wind and water.
I played with various bits of porcelain and a previous life began to manifest it self. The fragments were eager to tell about their past lives, where they had a certain position on the table and were valued in their graceful functionality.
A small cup was born.
The Teapot ”There was once a proud teapot; it was proud of being porcelain, proud of its long spout, proud of its broad handle. It had something before and behind.” by Hans Cristian Andersen 1862
Abandoned settlement 100 years old, only the wooden structures remain in the landscape.
The Arctic spirit In autumn 2020 I did a residency in north Greenland, Thule district. Studying the Greenlandic landscape, the Greenlandic icy waters, the wildlife in this harsh environment and finally the human location in between all these factors. I am hugely fascinated by these people who have survived this inhospitable environment and their symbiosis with their hunting animals. Myths and rituals, legends and narratives emerged to balance the coexistence between nature, humans, and animals. Abandoned settlements, bones of Arctic animals, historical manifestations in the landscape. Greatness and fall, a world constantly changing.
Domestic waste from an Inuit culture. Bones from Hvalross, seal and birds
The village Qaanaaq, Thule district 2020
Modern Greenland is still on the edge of the wilderness in a harsh environment, but there is resilience and will. All modern conveniences characteristic by our time are well implemented in society. Even the smallest village has the basic necessities of electricity, water, heat and of course the internet. Young people here look like young people in the rest of the world, they are all modulated by the same streaming impulses.
Watercolour merging with ice. Dogs in chains and houses, drawn in ink.
Welcome to the Frosen Zone
By allowing smaller pieces of capice and watercolour merge together on watercolourpaper, the ice is maintained at that very moment it melts and disappears. Water colour merged with ice from the icecap, Greenland.
Only the essence of the ice is left.
Glaze testing I have been looking for the expression of ice in my glaze work over a long period of time. With these more recent tests, I am approaching something. The melting and the transparent, but at the same time opaque qualities in these delicate blue/ turquoise shades leave a sense of ice.
Crow skeleton. The shadow illustrating a previous life in the air.
Searching for a visual languages
I am attracted to organic manifestations, bones. A pile of minerals, the salt of the soil, an everlasting cycle of life that turns into dust and resurfaces, resurrection. This fragile little bird became the starting point in my research work. I worked as a taxidermist removing all soft organic matter and finally reconstruct the bird skeleton, with wires and a good deal of patience. An organic memory is revealed, perfectly fitted for thin air.
Especially the aerodynamic shape of the bird skull appeal to me. It is light, dellicate and responses comfortably to the hand. It has many sculptural qualities with its oval shape, various openings which form fine shadows and illuminations. I have decided on 3 different Greenlandic bird skulls : The Raven, The Seagull and The Snow Sparrow.
I hand build the 3 sculls in clay. From these I made plaster moulds allowing me to replicate the mother shape. By press moulding into the plaster moulds, I had the ability to replicate the shape endlessly.
By making a vast number of skulls something new occurs. The repetition of the same shape creates intricate patterns. Each skull becomes a molecule in a larger construction.
Tupilak volume 2
White stoneware unglazed 15 x 15 x 48 cm. Black Granit and Quartz from Thule Cut into rectangles by me. 11 x 11 x 15 cm. 6 x 6 x 8 cm.