Clara Martin

Meet Clara Martin, a Launceston-based artist whose work with textiles draws from home, heritage, and imagination. “My practice is deeply influenced by the domestic space… being able to create a home in Launceston and the process of doing so has fed into the way I approach my creative practice,” Clara says.

Clara’s art spans quilting, weaving, and embroidery – skills she learned from the women in her family. But don’t let the softness fool you.

“My practice underscores the softness, comfort, and tactility of textiles while juxtaposing against aggressive, violent, and morbid concepts,” she explains. Every quilt or woven piece becomes an artefact, a delicate object that can surprise, unsettle, or provoke thought: “The soft quilt saying something violent to those looking at it.”

Image: Artist Clara Martin uses fabrics and textiles to create her artworks. Photo: QVMAG.

She draws inspiration from iconic textile artists like Anni Albers, Sheila Hicks, Louise Bourgeois and Tracey Emin, as well as her life in Tasmania - from the act of creating a home to the stark, wild landscapes of the west coast. Concepts like folk horror, the monstrous feminine, and the subversive history of textiles also weave their way into her practice.

Her techniques are equally deliberate. Clara starts with machine quilting, layering fabrics with batting and backing, then adding appliquéd text and sometimes three-dimensional elements in weaving. Each step is carefully planned to ensure that the work holds together while remaining conceptually engaging.

Image: A close-up of an artwork in progress by Clara Martin.

Clara’s love for textiles began in childhood. “I had been taught to knit and sew by my grandmother… she allowed me to practice and make mistakes,” she recalls. Her path took a turn at university when she was introduced to a textile elective - a decision that opened an entirely new world and set her on the path she follows today.

For RISE, Clara wants viewers to engage deeply. “I hope the audience will be able to access and engage with my work on an emotional and intellectual level… they will be able to relate to it and possibly find comfort in it.” Showing her work at QVMAG is especially meaningful. “Being afforded the ability to show my work in a large space, to a large audience, allows the work to be activated and understood in a way it doesn’t get to on social media.”

Clara Martin’s textiles are more than objects - they are stories, histories, and emotions stitched together, inviting us to look, feel, and think differently about the comfort and complexity woven into everyday materials.