Clare Benson

The Shepherd's Daughter

November 6, 2015 - January 7, 2016

My work is deeply rooted in my family history.

After the death of my mother when I was eleven years old, I became increasingly curious about notions of family, memory, and mortality.

I grew up with my father: an avid hunter, archery champion, and former hunting guide in the Alaskan wilderness. Before my father, my grandmother was a hunter and before that my great-grandmother, and long before that the stars made up constellations that told stories of the greatest hunts. In The Shepherd's Daughter, the nuances of hunting and the rugged northern Michigan landscape of my childhood are woven with narratives of memory, mythology, time and impermanence.

ABOUT THE ARTIST: Clare Benson is a photographer and interdisciplinary artist whose work centers around themes of family history and memory as she weaves in elements of nature, science, and mythology. The trajectory of her creative practice has been highly influenced by her experience growing up in northern Michigan, as well as her time living and working abroad in places like Slovakia and northern Sweden. Most recently, she spent the past year working with scientists at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics, under the auspices of a Fulbright Fellowship. She is the recipient of numerous other awards and honors including the Joyce Elaine Grant Solo Show Award, PDN Emerging Photographer, and First Place in the 2014 LensCulture Portrait Awards. Benson received her MFA from University of Arizona and her BFA from Central Michigan University. She is currently working between Michigan and New York City. http://www.clarebenson.com/