Claire Layman grew up on a farm in Western Australia. She left Perth in 1985 and travelled around the United States, Canada, Britain, France and Switzerland until 1990, working as a cocktail waitress, laboratory assistant, language transcriber, recreation officer and grape picker. The first public display of Claire’s art was through a gallery in Chapel Street (Melbourne) in 2004. Her work began selling immediately. Her paintings have been purchased by collectors from Sydney, New York, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Thailand, Fiji, London, and many other places around the world.
Her paintings are unique because they combine vibrant, new abstract forms with materials usually found in sculptures – clays, thick acrylics and resins – giving them depth and remarkable texture. She strives to make her paintings complex enough to be intriguing, using designs that are simple enough to be striking. The paintings are evocative, almost architectural, providing an innovative deconstruction of Australian landscapes and people. She leads the new movement in painting in resins, paints and inks, specializing in multilayered works and translucent paints. She continues to experiment, sometimes looking like Hokusai finally breaking free of his bonds, sometimes like a wayward botanical artist, and sometimes like an inspired Sidney Nolan.
Claire has had a number of solo and group exhibitions including:
- 2025 "Plus One", Highgate, London (with F. Zagari and A. Hsieh)
-2023 "One for the Road", Richmond, London (with F. Zagari, S. Conway and A Van Baelen)
-2023 London Art Biennale, Selected Artist, Chelsea, London
-2022 "Flights of Fancy", Hertford, UK. (with Naomi Jane Art)
-2021 "Kaleidoscope x Brothership", Hertford UK. (with M. Linott, F Zagari and Emma).
-2021 "Everyday Art," Marylebone, London
-2020 "Kaleidoscope Christmas". (with F. Zagari)
-2018 "Firebreak", Marylebone, London
-2016 "Time Out", Melbourne
-2016 "Riptide", Perth
-2015 "Resin8", Darwin
-2014 "In Too Deep", Sydney
-2013 "Oceans Inc", Sydney
-2012 "Roadtrip", Darwin
-2012 "Designs on Layman's Terms", Mandurah
-2011 "Resonate", Mandurah
-2010 "Arid Zone", Alice Springs
-2010 "Fashion Therapy", Sydney
-2010 "Two and a Half Dimensions", Alice Springs
-2010 "Two and a Half Dimensions", (with Frieda Mc Girr)
2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 Affordable Art Fairs, Melbourne.