Clare Barker

Clare Barker is a second-generation cloisonne enamellist. She initially learnt the craft from her artist mother Mary Barker. The practice involves firing layers of powdered glass onto a copper base with a carefully constructed, individual design made of copper wires. Each work requires several kiln firings to achieve a lustrous, jewel-like finish. This labour of love, creates a unique, handcraft work of art. Drawing upon mythology, religion and literature much of Clare’s source material is derived from art history and curated photography. For her, enamelling is an understandable passion - it embodies family connections, a degree of alchemy and a process that results in works of enduring beauty.

Clare has a Post Graduate Diploma in Fine Arts from Elam and has studied at Browne School of Art. In 2022 and 2023 she attended summer schools at the Florence Academy of Art and the Scuola d'Arte Sacra Firenze. In 2024 she enrolled in intensive workshops in oil and portrait painting conducted by Ruth Fitton in Seville and Costa Dvorezky in Tuscany. In Ravenna she studied the art of mosaics with Luciana Notturni. Clare was a finalist in the 2024 Walker & Hall Waiheke National Art Award.