Today we’d like to introduce you to Clare Austen-Smith.
Clare, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I’ve been an artistic person – my folders in elementary and middle school were covered in drawings, I was in school plays (albeit usually, with no lines), and took art electives throughout undergrad, but I never took it seriously as a possible career until I started doing comedy. I just thought that there was no way I could make a living doing art of any kind and it was more sensible to pursue a stable career. I worked on the 2012 Obama Campaign and then moved to Chicago to work at a non-profit. After a year of working 50-60 hours a week, I decided to take an improv class on a whim at Second City. I fell in love with performing and continued taking classes at iO Chicago, but it wasn’t until I got into stand up that everything really clicked. I ended up quitting my full time job in 2016 to work part time, pursue freelance illustration, and have more time to pursue comedy. It took me a while, but I’ve been able to build the kind of life where I’m able to focus mostly on my creative dreams which, when I think about it, is truly insane.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
My visual art and my comedy both tackle the female experience, my own disgusting body (I like my body, but I also think what comes out of it can be gross and fun), and tend to get a bit cute and absurd. I like to make visual art that people relate to and can see themselves in – I did a series of nude selfie illustrations that came from submissions all over the internet through Instagram – and it was incredible to see the positive response they got when I shared them. I’d like to think my goal in comedy is the same – to make people laugh, but to relate and connect to them through my own experiences. Usually, my favorite and best material comes from my own life. Going through my own lived experiences is where I find myself the most inspired.
Do current events, local or global, affect your work and what you are focused on?
I think that the role of the artist is the same – to be totally selfishly absorbed in our creative process that we can remove ourselves from current events. I KID. I don’t think the work I personally do is affected by local/national/international events – I’m not a political comedian, my illustrations are political in the sense they concern the human body – but as a person, a queer woman, they do deeply affect me and people I love in my life. The rising threat of a fascist leadership in the Whitehouse, the travel ban, the immigration abuses being perpetuated by ICE – those are inseparable from me as a person who exists in this country. Artists can make great art that inspires and illuminates movements, but if we are not out there knocking on doors and doing the work alongside everyone else, then it’s not helping.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
You can follow me on Instagram at @Okayclare, where I post most of my visual art. You can support me by commissioning a piece or buying a print from my online store at www.clareaustensmith.com, where I also list all my upcoming shows.
In terms of supporting my work, my venmo is @okayclare 🙂
Contact Info:
- Website: www.clareaustensmith.com
- Instagram: @okayclare
- Twitter: @okayclare
Image Credit:
Photo courtesy of Sarah Larsen. All illustrations courtesy of Clare Austen-Smith.
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