Re/Construct

Hooks-Epstein Galleries will present an exhibition of new works by Houston-based ceramicist, Clara Hoag. “Re/Construct” will open on Saturday, March 12, 2022. An “Open House” for the exhibition will take place from 11:00 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. The exhibition will continue through Thursday, April 14, 2022. "Re/Construct" is an exhibition of ceramic pieces and drawings by Clara Hoag. Her work draws a comparison between the human body and a city: highways and arteries, cars and blood cells, and buildings and bones. Like a city, a person can be built, fixed, mapped, and charted; and just like a person, a city can grow, thrive, and decline. Hoag uses the visual language of architecture to describe the complexity of the human body and mind; she integrates construction motifs into human forms and assembles her sculptures from multiple clay parts. Windows, scaffolding, and debris cover the bodies of her sculptures, and carvings and decals suggest tattoos and murals. In her drawings, layers of gestural ink—as well as rusty, organic colors that are juxtaposed with the bright blue, yellow, and white colors that are seen on the siding of new buildings—further serve to immerse the viewer into the cityscape. Ultimately, Hoag’s work is about finding awe and beauty in the immensity of the human existence. Clara Hoag earned two BFAs from the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) in 2009 and received an MFA in Ceramics from the University of Georgia (Athens) in 2013. In 2018, Hoag had a solo exhibition, "A SUM OF PARTS", at Gallery 100 in the Silos at Sawyer Yards. She has been a resident artist at The Archie Bray Foundation and the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft. She has also participated in a number of national group shows and has received grants from the Houston Arts Alliance, the Puffin Foundation, and the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation. Hoag currently teaches Ceramics at Houston Community College.