Clare Pattinson

Automaton builder

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The marriage of art and mechanics

Clare is a self-taught automata builder
Her creations have a social commentary to them
She splits her time between Wales, England and France

Clare Pattinson discovered automata building in 2010 while visiting an artist’s open studio event. Having previously studied ceramics, animation, humanities and plumbing, her fascination for a craft combining all sorts of skills was evident for someone with such various interests. She started with basic mechanisms and hasn’t stopped! She improves and complexifyies her pieces as she goes along. Her work has a strong element of social and political satire attached to it as a reminder of her years working with socially vulnerable people. Describing herself as “a little nomadic”, Clare shares her time between Wales, England and France; her camper van-turned-mobile workshop together with her studio in France give her the possibility to create as she goes, wherever that may be.

Interview

What do you love about your craft?
Creating automata encompasses all the skills I’m fascinated in: movement, mechanics, humour, storytelling, colour, caricature. Also, I love to see people’s reactions and to witness people of all ages laughing and smiling. This is the most rewarding feeling.
How do you define well made?
It means patience, consideration and care have gone into the making process. Mistakes may have been made along the way, but pure determination and concentration has kept the focus alive. It means that the finished object is near immaculate, both inside and out.
One thing about your work that people don’t normally know?
I enjoy improvisation. Give me a piece of junk or a discarded item, and I relish the challenge of trying to transform it into something new and different. When I design and create a machine, I start with an idea which usually evolves as the piece develops.
What are your sources of inspiration?
People watching, capturing a moment in time like a photograph still, and replaying that moment over and over again. Early automatons were the forerunners to computers, whereby a series of instructions are followed again and again. I find this repetitive action satisfying.

Clare Pattinson is an expert artisan: Iel began his career in 2012