Clementine Stoney Maconachie
In her multidisciplinary practice, Clementine Stoney Maconachie explores strength and simplicity – through her organically bold sculptures.
Words: Holly Terry I Photography: Karina Dias Pires
Clementine Stoney Maconachie in her Sydney studio. Photo: Karina Dias Pires
‘I just adore doing what I do and especially the making process. I feel grateful every day and always want to squeeze the most out of each day.’ Photo: Karina Dias Pires
‘I am not a minimalist in life. I love to be surrounded by beautiful books, furniture and art but I do aspire to a minimal aesthetic, and I think that comes through in my art.’ Photo: Karina Dias Pires
Sydney-based visual artist, Clementine Stoney Maconachie embraces the beauty of imperfection, balancing the physical process of using her own body weight to hand cut or cold-bend metals and stone, with a juxtaposing end product that explores softness and organic shape.
Surrounded by art and creativity from a young age, the multidisciplinary maker had spent much of her career as a visual merchandiser for reputable Australian fashion labels such as Sass & Bide. Prior to that, Clementine was an Olympic swimmer and world record holder, ‘I think my early years as an athlete shaped my worth ethic and determination to keep going and improving,’ she says.
Her works are robust in their strength yet met with a delicate simplicity. The artist makes everything by hand, cutting stone or forming fluid, organic shapes with metal sheets. Honing in on the imperfect nature of hand-made pieces.
‘I love that the materials I use sometimes have a patina and that they age over time. The totems are cut and sanded, but you can still see how they’re made. They’re not perfectly smooth, which to me, is part of their beauty,’ says Clementine.
‘I think the beauty in art is that often you can see the artist's hand. We’re living in a world with more and more mass-produced, machine-made items. The handmade and the imperfect are what’s beautiful to me.’
‘There’s been pinch me moments like the first time my pieces were featured in Vogue Living, making lighting for Ursula's restaurant in Paddington and being featured in an amazing book by Karina Dias Pires in company with other women artists.’ Photo: Karina Dias Pires
Clementine Stoney Maconachie's works are robust in their strength yet met with a delicate simplicity. Photo: Courtesy of Clementine Stoney Maconachie
“Simplicity is calming for me, and something I strive for in life. The world is so busy – in my art I can just keep it simple and pure.”
Line sculpture by Clementine Stoney Maconachie. Photo: Courtesy of Clementine Stoney Maconachie
Abstract sculptures designed by Clementine Stoney Maconachie. Photo: Peter Van Alphen
Floating between a variety of different mediums and modalities, the maker’s work moves between exploring the manipulation of industrial style materials such as CSR Hebel, an aerated concrete typically used for building, and metals including steel, aluminium, brass and mixed zinc.
‘A large part of my inspiration is from materials and thinking of different things I could do with them. I do generally like to have a few different series on the go. Jumping between mediums keeps it fresh too.’
Having first started exploring folding metals in 2013, Clementine adorned the windows of Sass & Bide with her fluid, simplistic sculptures, ‘I love the contradiction of a cold flat metal turned into a soft moving shape. Simplicity is calming and for me, and something I strive for in life. The world is so busy – in my art I can just keep it simple and pure.’
Clementine is most proud that she backed herself to make the leap to creating art full time (and so are we!). Her first years as an independent maker have seen her moving from strength to strength, being included in Karina Dias Pires’ recent publication Artists at Home, numerous features in Vogue Living, as well as working alongside Sydney restaurant, Ursula’s Paddington, to create lighting for the venue. To come, Clementine hints toward a possible show in the US, a window with Maison Balzac, as well as a few projects with London based Gallery, Richeldis Fine Art.