Clare Radigan
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I was born and raised in Virginia. My father was a 3rd generation Irish Catholic and a Dept. of Agriculture employee; My mother was a stay-at-home mom, daughter of a Michigan farmer, descended from multiple generations of farmers, mostly of Dutch heritage, from Michigan and New York.
Being raised in the Virginia suburbs outside of Washington D.C., political events were always in the forefront. The assassination of John Kennedy was not just a black and white, painful broadcast event; As an 8-year old I had recurring dreams that Kennedy was a family member, and it was my duty to sit in the parlor to guard the coffined body of my murdered president. Following this was the assassination of Martin Luther King and the subsequent riots in D.C., the Viet Nam war protests…..all of these events folded into the distant echoes of the past as they shaped my direction as an artist. Core to my expression as an artist is the role of the unconscious, which often causes my work to seem as though seen through the veils of a dream. I’ve lived and studied Art near Washington D.C, and in Richmond Va., and San Francisco Ca. In San Francisco I was a curator and board member of a non-profit alternative art space known as A.R.E. This was at a time when “alternative” often meant a strong dissent among the art disciplines, particularly performance art and visual art. I staunchly defended-and still do-the importance of artistic expression in all media. After moving to Florida 25 years ago, I soon began teaching art at Daytona Beach Community College, where I worked for 9 ½ years, while raising my family. Within a few years I also became a teacher for Volusia county Schools. I began the current phase of my artistic production in 2010, and renewed exhibiting my work. All of the work in my current portfolio is from 2010-2016. I retired at the end of last year in order to produce art full-time. |