ARTIST STATEMENT
I see my work as both a critique and a celebration of modern culture. My work deals with the theme of vanitas, which is a 17th-century Dutch genre of painting that uses symbols of transience and impending death to warn against earthly vanity and pleasure. I see my paintings as curiosity cabinets of pop culture and girlhood, and I focus on brevity of life as a symbol of childhood. I don’t want to warn anyone against earthly pleasures in exchange for piety, I see it more as a true reflection of what it means to be an artist. Displaying my female identity through investigative collections, I reveal and critique the notions and expectations that gender biases have perpetuated throughout history. Serving my audience with researched concepts and ideas on a hot pink platter, I deal with the theme of validity through violent femininity. I see my work as an expression of a justified autonomy, it’s an illustration of coming of age with the notion of agency.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Veronica Clements is a Chicago native living and working in Elgin, IL. She is the Middle & Upper School Visual Arts & Videography teacher at Elgin Academy and a realism oil painter. Veronica is a member and the social media manager for the Chicago Women’s Caucus for Art, a board member of the National Women’s Caucus for Art, and the president of the Young Women’s Caucus for Art. Clements is also the founder of Sick Rose, an upcycled clothing brand that sells on Depop. She is currently preparing for a solo show in 2023 at the Evanston Art Center. When she is not painting on canvas or clothing, she is taking classes at Northwestern to earn her Museum Studies Certificate and playing with her two cats, Samo and Trixie.
© Veronica Clements