Lola Claxton-Keys is an artist, coming from the Bath area. She is down here in Falmouth with her degree in Fine Art. Lola is incredibly skilled artist from painting to sculpture style. Utilising material of all kinds to aid her art in such a unique way. Using techniques ranging from letting her work to the weather elements to the precise process of jewellery.
Her art is truly something to behold, as one might think so many levels to inte
Lola Claxton-Keys
rpret, with its intercut designs. Lola’s art is mostly working with metals, especially steel. Explaining to me that it is the cheapest metal yet, the most hardest metal alloy. Coming with that difficulty of the alloy, she depicts the material as unyielding, like trying to get a toddler out the house in the morning.
Claxton-keys’ art goes hand in hand with chemistry and the elements, harnessing the weather to interact with her art in such beautifully destroying way. She leaves her metal sculptures outside for a couple weeks at a time. Having the weather react with the alloy, rusting it. The relationship between the elementals to her sculptures battling themselves, becoming this extremely complex message.
Lola imagines her art as not aesthetically pleasing at all. She describes it herself as ‘jarring and uncomforting’. She uses jagged edges and rusting decomposition to create this aura around her piec
Lola’s Sculptural Work
es. When aski
ng her about the meanings behind her art, she replied explaining about it is about the relationship between both sides. Recording her art weeks at a time when she leaves it out, as it is all about the how the metal reacts with the rain or sun.
The relationship.
Her art is non-formalist and abstract which means learning the process of how she creates these pieces is key to understanding them – it comes in handy to read the plaques next to art pieces in museums then. Her art is so much more about material as well as the companionship of the elements. Lola’s fascination with metals and how they react is also how she adds these layers of emotional meaning.
I asked if she ever sees herself in art or if it ever represents her identity. ‘Not directly’ Lola said. She goes on to say that when she is comfortable and happy she creates more. Explaining further, that being down in Falmouth helps her art flourish more. Cornwall has very salty air and rain because of the coast which reacts much more with her models than being in her home town. Its difficult to pin her emotional self to her art as directly as some other artists, however the sculptures in the Cornish sea salt air reacts in such a positive way for her style. Lola agrees as this is a notion that could be linked.
The idea home doesn’t show up in the artist work but as mentioned earlier, when she is in a happy environment she creates more. Home comforts and privacy is a prominent value of hers. I asked her about the theme of home in fine art if she thought it was overdone. To some extent, Lola agreed but explained that it is difficult to do something completely original nowadays. It’s an incredibly popular topic and she has seen it done so many interesting ways. Completely depends on the way an artist does it.
The progression of the artist’s work started out as painting. Doing commissions for people, with a realism approach of style. For herself, she painted cattle which is a sweet practice would wholeheartedly reflects Lola as a person. A gentle and kind individual. Her work started to progress more into the style I have talked about is when she came to university. Using university workshops to her advantage to develop her style. She found a love of print making, etching into lino which finally advancing into etching into steel. Lola eventually decided to experiment with metal and acid in the relationship with chemistry, leading to the exploratory sculptures she loves to create today.
The future for abstract expressionist is to train as a jeweller. With skills as jewellery making under belt already. Her exploration with alloys now, has set her in stead for the handling of precious metals as it is such similar techniques. If one could pick at that her work being so non-formalist, and to headway into a career where the aesthetics are so important. However, Lola reassures that she wants to find to incorporate h
Lola’s Jewellery Work
er avant-garde style later on in her established profession. In addition, to keep on creating her sculpture on the side for herself.
Finally, at the end of our chat I asked Lola if she could describe her art pieces in three words: Materialism, relationality and relationships. Admittedly, I had to search for relationality but such an incomparable way to describe her art. Relationality is the ideal that all aspects of life is connected and exist in relationship which each other.