“I’m a follower of Aurelius who tells me to ‘study change.’ I’m interested in uniformity, a swarm of identical birds, how such sameness explodes at the slightest change or variation. I want to see where things break away from the pattern or become sewn back into a harmony. Birds, clouds, stars, the moon—I’m drawn to all heavenly bodies. The spareness of night against the ridiculous pomp of its lights. One of my main obsessions is the way col  or depends on a dark background to gather complexity, momentum, and emotional weight.

I’m intrigued by the way the line between exterior and interior life vanishes with certain colors like blue, how red instantly pins you into the present, how yellow takes you into the future, and black can cleanse the overstimulated mind.

Words, shapes, colors, textures, sounds, rhythms, patterns, can lead us mysteriously to understand and love something about existence without really knowing what that new understanding, or object of love are. My favorite works of art do not explain life to me; they show me life’s uncertainties in the most beautiful ways they know how. That kind of art teaches me how to survive in a world where my most ardent questions will always remain unanswered. In fact, when I listen to Dylan’s ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ I feel blissful about everything I don’t know.

When I sell paintings I often write a note to the buyer that says I hope the painting will bring mystery to their home. Every home needs reminders that mysteries are not villains but can be guardian angels that keep us listening, searching, living.

My greatest wish for painting is to create works that allow the viewer to drop into their own inner life through trap doors they didn’t know were there, and to love being there.” -Claire Åkebrand