Thinking Through Other Things – In Conversation with Lenka Clayton
Lenka Clayton is an interdisciplinary artist whose works are clever, witty instances of engaging with the “every day.” The artist uses objects and language, intentions and relations, stories and traces, to intervene in the mundane and propose new arrangements of the real and new forms of attention. The playfulness and humour that traverse Clayton’s artworks create bubbles of reflective joy, bursting with smart quirks and beautifully constructed punch lines, all neatly packed and generously delivered.
Graphic, tangible, conceptual, or relational – Clayton’s pieces can be universal and deeply personal, as she often invites other people to take part in her projects. In 2012, Lenka Clayton created An Artist Residency in Motherhood, as a new framework for her art-making, while navigating the period of being a new mother to her second child. In 2016 she launched a digital platform to share her experience with other art makers entering parenthood and make the project public.
With over 1000 artists-in-residence in 64 countries, the open-source concept is designed to accommodate unique situations and support new parents in continuing to do their work. Without the bias and pressure of established structures permeating the artworld, parenthood is not an excluding limitation to art-making, but a trove of possibilities.
At a time where we’re all confronted with various types of limitations, we turned to Lenka Clayton to hear of her approach to art and the brilliant residency model she created.
Your approach to making art and your creative voice are fascinating – when did you first start making art and why?
The work I make is similar to interests I had as a little kid; arranging things, collecting pencils, writing to companies to ask for free stuff, making museums in caves, etc. As I grew up it slowly became clear to me that I would become an artist. I don’t really remember deciding.
Many of your artworks unveil very particular attitudes towards objects you encounter. How would you describe your relationship to objects/material situations, in general?
I exist very happily among objects and find endless joy in living with, collecting, and appreciating them. This relationship is most powerful when the objects are unique and/or show up unexpectedly, for example, in a junk store, beachcombing, or by the side of the street. Then, aside from the object itself, I also have the narrative experience of discovery, as well as the imaginings of the object’s origin and its past lives.
Your pieces seem very carefully considered – what’s the balance in your practice between rigorous, thought-through intervention upon the objects versus a more instinctual, immediate response?
Thanks! I don’t really see those two modes as separate ways of thinking. For me, either path followed usually ends up in a similar place. Instinctive responses are not made up in the moment, but rather arrive in the form they do due to years of experience making and thinking through other things.
Image courtesy the artist
Tell us a bit about your Residency in Motherhood project – what was the impact this “self-imposed” residency on your artistic sensibilities, if you will – things or instances that became more obvious or less urgent; or a shift in priorities?
I originally designed An Artist Residency in Motherhood as a frame for my own practice, before I realised that an essential resolution for the work was to share it with others. That period as a new mother trying to make work while full-time caring for my child taught me so many things – I’m tempted to write a list. The most essential thing, I think, was the realisation of how important and productive limitations can be. This allowed me to mentally transform obstacles I was facing into “materials” to work with, which turned out to be a much more creative and friendly way to deal with them. Suddenly my working life which had previously been measured by time in the studio (barely any at all) was now measured by these new obstacle-materials which I had in overflowing abundance. I try to remember these days, even as that time has passed.
You speak of possibilities – but did this model of residency create any new challenges?
You’d have to ask the current residents. For me, it didn’t. The residency just framed existing challenges and let me look at them in new ways. Other people might have different experiences, though.
With many people lately being confined to the space of their homes, the relationship with one’s home shifts – what’s your advice, when it comes to strategies of making a limited living/experimental space feel limitless?
Sound-cancelling headphones.
What’s your favourite project created in this residency?
We (I and 82 Artists-in-Residence-in-Motherhood) just published a book called Mother’s Days. It consists of personal accounts of the same single day (15th July, 2019) written by mothers from around the world. The days are simply reported, and all depict the same subject, but are incredibly varied and together make a heart-achingly human document. Here are some bits I love, though I could quote entire pages:
“7:32 Husband bathes 2-year-old. I start to clean up the toys but get distracted by a thought that I must write down before it is swept away like a message written in the sand.”
“3:24-4:19 I get lost twice on the way home. Husband calls to tell me 2-year-old’s teacher said it was his best day yet. He calls back to ask for the recipe for eco-friendly weed killer that a farmer friend gave me. He calls back again to ask if table salt is just regular salt.”
“9:00 Daughter pokes her finger in my eye, “There is sad, there, inside the eye!” The toddler poetry floors me, but I’m distracted by the fact that I really need to clip her nails.”
“11:45 We go to the grocery shop and daughter sings, “America! America!” in the pram the entire time. How does she know about America? Who taught her this song? Then suddenly she demands oatcakes. I have never bought oatcakes nor mentioned them. Where is all this knowledge coming from?”
“16:05 Daughter and I play and make the contact we both need. We laugh and hug and I feel the love washing over me. This moment. I wonder if our days would have more of them if I didn't have so much to do. A partner and a supportive granny doesn’t seem realistic, so I wish for a cleaner.”
4:25 pm She wants to read so goes and gets Richard Scarry’s What Do People do all Day? I skip over the very dated and sexist "What Mommies do all Day" story on principle, though it is a pretty accurate depiction of my day-to-day.”
