Celia Calder / Visual Art

Wedding thank you cards Watercolor, ink October 2018

Human connection is extremely important, but at the same time, care, empathy, and vulnerability involve hard work, and this emotional labor is often devalued in our society. In Hard to Give, while I do the work of holding my body upside down, my dress flips over to reveal gifts which I offer to viewers/participants.  However, when I am too tired to hold myself up any longer, my skirt flips back down and I can no longer offer gifts. Through this action, I attempt to acknowledge both the beauty and work of giving without expecting to receive in return. The gifts themselves, each showing the evidence of a touch, function as proxies for physical connection.

Uni 2017 Performance, cosmetic glitter, Instax camera, bench, fabric, and clothespins By creating a moment of human connection between myself and the participant as I apply glitter unibrows to participants’ faces in Uni, I bring up questions about the strangeness of gender. Why do people with natural unibrows often remove the hairs in the middle in the first place? Are glitter unibrows feminine because of the glitter? Are unibrows masculine? Paradoxically, could heightening this ambiguity allow us to see each other more clearly?

The Body is an Extension of the Mind (At Last the View is Fierce) Celia Calder 2015 Aquatint etching Click here to view full series: The Body is an Extension of the Mind

The Body is an Extension of the Mind (Community) Celia Calder 2015 Etching Click here to view full series: The Body is an Extension of the Mind

Touch Armor 2017 Polymer clay, friends’ touch Touch Armor explores the seeming paradox between strength and emotionality, which has been devalued as feminine and weak. I feel that my greatest strength as a person lies within these supposedly weak qualities, which I have both given and received throughout my life. These armor plates show evidence of these connections that give emotional strength and protection. Many thanks to Cori Cannavino for performing.

Headstand 2017 Clip from durational performance (10 minutes) Many thanks to Alexis Hott for filming.

From the client: “Celia was incredibly professional with their designs. They listened well to the needs of the job, had drafts completed on time, and offered their own valuable artistic input. The result was exactly what I had asked for! I highly recommend working with Celia, and will be doing so again myself when the need arises!”

From the client: “First a big thank you for your work on this project!! We are delighted with the final result. The illustration was signed off by the Hanwell Future group last Friday. Everyone was happy that we managed to get the vision down into one illustration. Hanwell Future is made up of the heads of various residents’ associations in Hanwell, plus other groups. The next step is to take the illustration to each residents’ association meeting and get feedback and buy-in for the vision.”

Queer Dance Connection Workshop Series, Feb. 2018

Switch Dance Organization Logo, Nov. 2017

Trade Routes Touring Exchange Festival Poster, Dec. 2017

Smith Social Dance Organization Poster, Jan. 2017

Through the Eyes of Rebel Women event poster, Smith College, March 2017

Fremde Tänze Poster, Oct. 2017

Smith Social Dance Organization Logo 2017

New Vision for Hanwell’s Future - sketches & iterations