artist bio
My name is Maria Claire Aguilar, otherwise known as @ClaireCanFly.
I am in my third year at CU Boulder double-majoring in Environmental Studies and Art, with minors in Political Science, Geology and Art History ! I am fairly new to my art journey, since I did not take any art classes in either middle or high school even though I feel that I am a creative person. I have wanted to pursue art further since about a year ago when my grandmother passed away. She was an amazing artist, and I felt this would give me a way to connect to her, as well as provide an outlet for me because my major is admittedly, not especially creatively inspiring. Over this past summer I took the sculpture class Art & Environment Field School where I learned so much about the world of contemporary sculpture and how I can incorporate art into the Environmental Studies part of my life. As of now, most of my work focuses on different environmental issues as well as how we study the environment. As for mediums, I have taken Foundations and been trying new things constantly. I enjoy drawing, ceramics, as well as painting with both acrylic and watercolor. Now that I have become more involved with sculpture and the sculpture department here at CU, I am curious to explore that more. However, my ultimate life goal as of right now is law school and becoming a lawyer. Art will (unfortunately) have to be secondary to that.
I’M HERE
I’M HERE is an examination of education and the outdoors.
I walked out into the forest and I made myself a classroom. A studio. What does a man do the second he knows he’s stuck out in the woods? He builds a shelter. He constructs yet another way to disconnect.
There are different layers to this project. There is the structure itself, the materials strewn about inside it and last but not least… there’s me! The structure is built from whatever I could find that was available to me up at the Mountain Research Station, everything within reach.
A collection of what is mine and what will be in the future. On the ground right beside my feet is material I have yet to study, while hanging on the walls around me are writing assignments I have accomplished and subsequently turned in. The writings include sections of essays I wrote for my college applications, as well as sections from environmental ethics, justice, and writing classes taken throughout college. I can do it all from here. Notice the walls? I am out in nature, learning, embracing, experiencing and yet am I? I have created walls. I have built a space for me. Myself only.
I am surrounded by what I have made, by that which has been expected of me. But what about who I am? What about the natural world? What if I wanted you to see me? What if instead I wanted you to know that, well, I’m here.
