Bell Projects presents – In the Weeds – a solo exhibition featuring multi-media work by Claudia Borfiga, November, 2023
In the Weeds brings together works in a variety of media; textiles, print, pulp painting, and ceramics. Raised on the outskirts of London and now residing far from her hometown, Claudia grounds herself by creating work rooted in the landscapes that currently envelop her. These pieces largely document Colorado, but also nod to other places she’s spent time this past year.
Mono screen-prints on textiles, made from re-purposed fabric, remnants, and deadstock, are envisioned as wall hangings. These gestural prints are a departure from the meticulously planned process of stencil exposure used previously by Claudia. They allow a more immediate and emotive approach to her work, enabling a deeper immersion for the viewer.
The first of these were printed on the linens of the late Dr. Peter Bullough, whose namesake artist residency she attended in November 2022. ‘Clouds’, in particular, is envisioned as a headboard, to be hung above the space where we dream, perhaps influenced by the material’s former life. The prints are framed architecturally, by cushioned and hand-quilted borders, softening the edges of our living environments.
While Claudia refrains from depicting human indicators within the landscapes she portrays, she is conscious that we observe them with human perspective. This can be seen most keenly through her ceramics, where she teeters between the utterly natural, celebrating unglazed clay bodies moulded into organic shapes, and the distinctly human, in her building of man-made archways. The colors used are observations of locally growing lichen, in particular the bright chartreuse of Pleopsidium, which is applied loudly to some of the forms.
In her experimental pulp paintings, Claudia continues to explore similar imagery to that of her wall hangings, but with more varied scale. She was introduced to the process at the beginning of 2023, whilst on a residency at Women’s Studio Workshop, and found somewhat of a home there. With no prior experience, and no expectations, she felt the freedom to play and create instinctually. During this process you create a base (or new sheet of paper), upon which you ‘paint’ using pigmented cotton pulp fibers, to form your artwork. Through the drying process, your imagery becomes embedded within the paper, retaining a tactile quality that Claudia finds to be emotionally evocative.
This body of work speaks to a deep engagement with the present moment. A documentation of Claudia’s immersion in nature, growth, and time spent meditatively hiking. Her curiosity and observations are translated into tactile dreamscapes, coming together playfully with radiant colors. She embraces the joy of being deeply absorbed by place and process, and encourages viewers to step into the weeds alongside her.