The Ohio Artist Registry (OAR) is an exciting opportunity for artists to share their work, connect with the creative community, and establish an online presence—all on a free, virtual platform! The OAR encourages artists working in all art forms, throughout Ohio and beyond, to create a profile, which allows them to better promote themselves and their work. Being listed in the OAR provides artists with new opportunities to share their work with clients, galleries, patrons, and audiences. A listing in the OAR does not confer an endorsement, approval, or verification by the Ohio Arts Council.
For more information, contact Kathy Signorino, artist programs director, at kathy.signorino@oac.ohio.gov or 614-728-6140.
2024 Ohio Artist Registry Juried Exhibition
Claire Wiedman
Bio
Claire Elyce Wiedman obtained a BA in Studio Art: Photography, a BA in Art History, and an MA in Studio Art: Photography and Printmaking, all from the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne, IN, before earning an MFA in Visual Art: New Projects from Columbus College of Art & Design. Their areas of specialty include history of photography, photographic theory, darkroom, and digital imaging. Claire teaches as an adjunct at Columbus College of Art & Design since 2015 and for OSU at various campuses since 2015. In 2019, Claire started a digital self-portraits project called “The Body Electric,” named after a poem by Walt Whitman. That project is ongoing.
Artist Statement
The Body Electric is an ongoing self-portrait project. I use my body as a sculptural object, intervening and interacting with light and objects found in and around my home, to communicate intricate and complex emotions. Although these feelings may be personal, many are universal or shared outside my own experience. At times, the English language has no succinct way of sharing the complexity of our feelings; we tell each other we are happy, frustrated, or sad when what we really are is staring into the refrigerator for comfort despite a full belly, grappling with persistent ominous feelings that something will go wrong when everything is going “too right,” or contemplating the absurdity of inhabiting a strange and wonderful body that both delights and displeases us. Where words fall short, images may have the ability to communicate these experiences and feelings with more immediacy. Some of the images take a more literal approach, others are ambiguous and metaphorical. In an effort to keep my images honest and the emotional content genuine, I photograph whenever I feel something intensely, giving myself no more than 10 minutes to gather any objects and find the right light, so that the images are never an affect. I hope that others observe parallels in their own lived experience, taking comfort in our shared humanity.