@seemerch

instagram: @seemerch Website: www.clairemerchlinsky.com

1. What's your story? Where are you from?

I am your average young, white female from Atlanta, GA. I escaped the southern United States and currently reside/work in Brooklyn, NY. I am 5’3” tall. I typically have the energy level of a house plant. I am left-handed and have a small scar underneath my right eye.

2. Tell us about your aesthetic.

I’d like to think of my work as a vivid tapestry of sad-girl-manga-fever-dream-imagery-bound together by my blood, snot, tears and other bodily fluids- but who honestly knows. It’s difficult to clearly describe something you think about way too much.

3. What is your favourite medium and why?

Painting will always be my most beloved and natural form of creating work. Lately, I’ve been using Flashe paint- a vinyl based acrylic paint that works similarly to gouache. It goes down superflat and opaque and comes in a variety of fluorescent colors that I dig.

4. What is your artistic process like?

Things usually begin with riding the train home from my part-time job at rush hour (misery). I put on some tunes that are fitting my current emotional state and dig deep into whatever is making me feel things. By the time I am home, there are typically a couple of images sorted out in my head to start from.

5. Who and/or what inspires your work?

Inspiration strikes me most often from the work of other people. Taking a walk while listening to a beloved album; going to an intriguing gallery show; watching a film by a director whose work I admire- all of these are great methods of getting the creative juices flowing.

6. What role does art play in your life? How does it change the way you view the world?

Creative output completely colors and shapes my entire worldview. Person-to-person, verbal communication is not my strongest suit. Sitting down, sifting through my thoughts/feelings and conceptualizing them is my preferred method of sharing myself. It’s a great way for shy guys like me to effectively communicate their ideas. Making things is how I tamper my overly-sensitive emotional reactions to the world.

7. Where did you study?

I went to SCAD for my undergrad schooling. I attended the SVA Illustration as Visual Essay Master’s program for grad school.

8. Where do you see yourself in five years? Working in an agency?

As an easily disappointed person, I try not to keep a roster of very specific accomplishments that I need to achieve in my life. It’s better for me to just squint at a blurred image of my idealized future and work towards that. In the distance, I hope to see myself (financially) supported solely through making things. That’s the only plan for now.

9. What about in ten?

See answer above.

10. What do you hope to achieve with your art?

Your creative output is like a mating call to the universe- crying into the void for people like you, who maybe make things like you or at least empathize with your viewpoint. Beyond my personal therapy, the main objective for making work is to inspire others to make work that, in turn, re-inspires me. It’s a weird, beautiful, never-ending cycle of communication that I am happy to participate in.

11. Now, tell us a little more about you as a person: what is your favourite food?

Mango

12. Favourite book?

The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene

13. Favourite genre of music?

It is far too difficult to pick only one - some of my favorite musicians: Brian Eno, The Knife, Frank Ocean, Aphex Twin, etc. etc. etc.

14. What are your hobbies?

In my free moments I enjoy being outside, researching/viewing musical performances, touching friendly animals and sitting in this color-changing LED light that I bought from IKEA.

15. If you weren't an artist, what would you be?

(Likely) A very different human.