Claire Hignett makes blankets and textiles that explore emotions connected to feeling safe, vulnerable and unsafe, particularly the space between these – wariness – and how this affects our judgement, interactions and decision making. Claire makes personal work about her own emotional responses, and public work responding to stories and histories she finds hidden in archives, collections and the stories buried deep down in the news.
A significant element Claire’s practice is community based, mainly worker with older adults and with adults who have learning disabilities including people with autism, and who are profoundly deaf. Claire is passionate that art should be accessible to everyone however they communicate and learn and was recently awarded a DYCP grant to develop work that is both conceptual and still accessible for people who communicate differently. This is an ongoing theme.
