Klaire Lockheart
Lockheart Legacy
April 5th - May 21st
Klaire A. Lockheart is a feisty artist who uses traditional oil painting techniques to critique historical injustices in the traditional Western art world. She has lived in South Dakota since she earned her MFA from the University of South Dakota, and she is Miss Art World South Dakota. Lockheart enjoys using the human form as a vehicle to communicate the agency of women with viewers, especially since women artists were historically prohibited from studying live models and making historic paintings. In addition to addressing femininity and feminism within her artwork, Lockheart incorporates humor to make serious subjects approachable. Her recent solo exhibitions include Feminine Attempts at the Sioux City Art Center in Sioux City, IA; A is for Apron at the Ritz Gallery in Brookings, SD; and Brodalisques at the Norfolk Arts Center, Norfolk, NE.
Artist's Statement
Artist Klaire A. Lockheart has assembled many portraits as an art installation, and she claims these oil on canvas paintings are from her family history. She affirms that the collection of portraits is a work of art in and of itself because she has taken and taught too many art
history and theory courses, and now she doesn’t know how else to exist as a painter in a world where critics have declared that “painting is dead” more times than she can count. This collection of portraits appear to represent the astonishing Lockheart lineage, which includes pirates, flappers, and other notable characters. Some viewers question if these are authentic historic portraits of Klaire Lockheart’s ancestors. The odds are slim that all of her extraordinary predecessors commissioned portraits that are all the same size. It’s suspicious that these paintings, some of which should date back
to the Renaissance, are in remarkably good condition. It’s also very unusual that Lockheart could have inherited all of these paintings. However, there is a chance that Lockheart is immortal, and she created these paintings to commemorate each identity she has assumed over time. Rumors have it that she is a vampire, time lord, or possibly possesses some sort of magical amulet. Despite the artist’s insistence that these portraits represent her lineage, skeptics proclaim that Lockheart simply created this series of paintings to construct a sense of belonging because she is a domestic abuse survivor and enjoys the concept of chosen family. It’s possible she made these paintings since she lacks family heirlooms. If this hypothesis is true, then Lockheart may have forged these portraits as a way to inspire viewers to feel empowered when constructing their own personal narratives.
About the Artist
