Clare Rojas

Early life and education Clare Rojas was born in 1976 in Columbus, Ohio. She is of half-Peruvian descent. As a teenager, Rojas visited a nursing home, where she would make portraits in pastel and oil, while she listened to the interesting stories of her subjects. At RISD, she studied printmaking, which informed her use of color, layering and sizing. In her search for non toxic paint, she discovered gouache, which she used to paint like a printmaker.

In her more recent work, Rojas has moved from figurative paintings into pure geometric abstraction. Inspired by Native American textiles, Quaker Art, and Byzantine mosaics, Rojas creates narratives depicting interactions between humans and animals, focusing on history’s journey to find peace. She brings multiple artistic influences together in her textiles by incorporating abstract geometry found in quilts and architecture. Rojas is known for adding elements of female sexuality into her artwork. She does this to give credit to women and recognize their natural strengths.

Selected solo exhibitions SOCO Gallery, Charlotte, NC 2019 Egret, Kavi Gupta, Chicago, IL, 2018 SOCO Gallery, Charlotte, NC 2016 Alice Gallery, Brussels, Belgium 2016 Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, CA, 2014 San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA, 2010, "Male Preserve" Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León, Leon, Spain, 2007 The Rose Art Museum, Waltham MA, 2006 Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN, 2005 Deitch Projects, New York, NY, 2004 Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL, 2002

Public art SFO, International Terminal, Gate G Level 3 - Blue Deer 2006-2007, Oil and Pigmented Ink with Gesso Ground on Wood Panels 982 Market Street, San Francisco, the side of the Warfield Theater - Mural 2014, commissioned by The Luggage Store Gallery and funded by Walter and Elise Haas Fund/Creative Work Fund.

Awards

Project Space Residency, 2003 Tournesol Award, Headlands Center for the Arts, 2003 Artadia Award, 2005 Eureka Fellowship Award, 2005–2007 Walter and Elise Haas Fund, 2013–2014 Ox-Bow School of Art, Artist-in-Residence, 2016

Albums Clare Rojas performs under the stage name Peggy Honeywell. She has released three albums:

Honey for Dinner (2001) Faint Humms (2005) Green Mountain (2006)