teri Claude

2009-05-24T11:37:00.000-07:00

Threads Exhibition
part of the National Queer Arts Festival 2009

Artist's Reception June 7th @ 3 pm

SomArts Gallery
934 Brannan St. @ 8th

2008-06-03T07:48:00.000-07:00

GenderQueer Show opens at Rock Paper Scissors Collective in Oakland.

Reception Friday June 6th 6-9 pm
part of Oakland's monthly Art Murmur
2278 Telegraph Ave. at West Grand

2008-02-17T14:20:00.000-08:00

Images from the Wayward show:

Show open through March 1st, Saturdays 11 - 5.

301 Bocana Gallery in Bernal Heights

Rorschach Case Studies (12 in. x 12 in., embroidery on cloth, 2008)

The Rorschach test is the classic ink blot test developed in the 1920’s as a psychological diagnostic tool. The abstract shapes were presented to patients, and their responses were thought to reveal subconscious thoughts and desires. The ink blot test is currently thought to be too subjective and projective to work as a diagnostic, but throughout the 1940’s and 50’s the test was used to help diagnose a number of conditions, notably homosexuality. A group testing approach was even developed for use by the military in WWII to detect men who were unfit for service.
By the 1950’s papers were published which collected responses to the ink blots which indicated homosexuality. These signs came to be known as “Wheeler Signs of Homosexuality”. These “signs” focused mainly on gay men. Reading through case histories from the 40’s and 50’s, you find few references to lesbianism, but this seems partly due to the fact that lesbianism was considered a more curable state. Women were diagnosed as having gender-role confusion, or immature ideas about sex. Men on the other hand were thought to sink quickly into depravity if their homosexual impulses were followed.
The series of embroideries made for this show are based on several of the original Rorschach ink blots. The titles reflect responses, based on reading case studies from the 1940’s and 50’s which would have categorized a woman as homosexual, or at least confused about her proper gender role in society.

Rorschach case study VII:
“my goodness, why are you showing me this? I can’t make out anything”

Rorschach case study I : “a female body builder”

Rorschach case study VI :
“ an ornately carved bedpost, a completely useless object”

Rorschach case study III : “women above, men below”

The Bearded Lady Café (embroidered cloth, 2008)

Also included in the show is a piece inspired by memories of Red Dora’s Bearded Lady Café. The Bearded Lady was a ground-breaking dyke performance space in the Mission in the early 90’s. Performers such as Michelle Tea, Silas Howard and Harry Dodge got their start here.

2008-01-17T07:49:00.001-08:00

Upcoming show: Wayward:
new work by Ellen Babcock and Teri Claude
Opening February 2nd, 2008
6 - 8 pm
301 Bocana Gallery
at the corner of Cortland and Bocana
in Bernal Heights

At 21st and Potrero, the devotional grotto is all that remains of St. Catherine's Home for Wayward Girls. This site is the inspiration for Ellen Babcock and Teri Claude's work, which explores the various ways unruly women have been dealt with over the past 100 years. The show includes sculptural pieces directly inspired by the grotto, and delicate embroideries based on ink blots which were historically used to diagnose homosexuality.

2007-10-29T14:18:00.001-07:00

"I started to write but found I had nothing to say"
embroidery, 2006

2007-06-29T10:35:00.000-07:00

Inside Bernal Hill
A collaborative project with my rabbit, Dusty.

Will be included in the show HOME at Rootdivision this July

Opening Reception: Saturday, July 14, 7-10pm
Exhibition Dates: July 13-28, 2007
Gallery Hours for the Exhibition: Wednesdays-Saturdays, 12-4 pm (or by appointment)
Gallery 3175 ROOT DIVISION
3175 17th Street (at South Van Ness & Shotwell) San Francisco, CA 94110
http://www.rootdivision.org/071407.html

In the process of digging a burrow for herself, she has been excavating artifacts from my backyard on the Southeast side of Bernal Hill. I began sifting through the dirt she brought up, and found shattered glass, nails, pottery shards, small toys, beer cans and many, many bones.

In the 1910’s, my entire block was a plant nursery, composed of a series of greenhouses and a large chicken coop. The large amount of shattered window glass I found must be left from the demolition of those greenhouses. The bones are mostly leftover from household garbage. The majority appear to be from chickens, but larger, butchered bones were also found, along with oyster shells, fish bones and a piece of a crab’s claw.

2006-06-19T07:29:00.000-07:00

Tables at the Lexington
made from reclaimed wood panelling from the 1960's and coated with durable epoxy

Rose. Inspired by the classic tattoo work of Sailor Jerry.

“a rose is a rose is a rose...” is the quote Gertrude Stein is most famous for. It originally appeared in her essay “Sacred Emily” written in 1913.

Nautical Star. This table is inlaid with the pattern of a nautical star. This tattoo was used for lesbians to recognize each other in the 1940’s and 50’s. The strategy was to get the tattoo on your wrist, where your watch would cover it when it needed to be covered.

Custom orders are welcome. Email me for details.

2006-04-19T13:20:00.000-07:00

Iconic at the Lexington Club
Opening Reception Tuesday, May 9th from 7 - 9 pm
3464 19th St. (between Mission and Valencia)
Mission District, San Francisco

Show continues through June 16th

"please me, please be mannish, do please me" Cut wood panelling. 4 ft x 5 ft. Quote is from Gertrude Stein's essay "An Exercise in Analysis" written in 1917.

Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas are one of the famous most famous lesbian couples of all time. Interestingly, they both grew up in the Bay Area and Alice was a survivior of the 1906 earthquake. They met in Paris just after the earthquake and spent the rest of their lives there. Gertrude became famous for her modernist writing style, which was as incomprehensible at the time as Picasso's cubist paintings. In amongst her writings, there are glimpses of her relationship with Alice, which was an open secret at the time.

The wood panel collages in the show are inscribed with quotes from Gertrude's writings which speak to her intimate relationship with Alice, and which are surprisingly contemporary considering they were written almost one hundred years ago.

The show also includes smaller, embroidered pieces which each capture an image from a tattoo of a famous lesbian.

The tattoo embroidered here belonged to Portia de Rossi. It was a ring tattoo which incorporated the initials of her former girlfriend Francesca Gregorini. She had the tattoo removed when she became Ellen Degeneres' partner.

2006-04-19T10:05:00.000-07:00

Femina Potens Gallery presents
New Work by Teri Claude & Kirstyn Russell
February 3rd - 24th, 2006.

The idea for the show began with a road trip the two artists took together, exploring remote areas of the Southern California desert. Both artists are drawn to the edges of development, and to the traces people leave behind. They are especially drawn to those traces which suggest a story or narrative for a space. Through sculpture and photography, the show will bring these remote places to the gallery.

Kirstyn Russell, Salton Sea. 2005.

Kirstyn Russell returned to San Francisco four years ago after living on the East Coast for 10 years. Searching beyond geographic boundaries into psychological, historic, and identity based understanding of the areas being photographed. “I am interested in looking at queer spaces where the expected signifiers are very subtle.” Her work includes images from her series Outposts; photographs of rural gay and lesbian bars.
more images of her work can be seen at http://www.theblackdahliashow.com/russell/

My work for the show included three pieces from the series "Finding Water in the Desert". All are based on memories of having grown up in the desert on an Air Force Base, living in cinderblock military housing. These memories are brought back to me whenever I visit the Mojave Desert, which is increasingly becoming a suburb of Los Angeles.

Mojave, California. A fragment of cinderblock wall, constructed of wood-panelling and veneer cinderblocks. The blocks are littered with embroidered cloth notebook pages. 2006. Kirstyn Russell's photographs can be seen in the background.

Rosamond, California. A part of a decorative cinderblock wall, through which a makeshift urinal has been constructed using a garden hose and plastic jugs. 2006. Cinderblocks are constructed of wood panelling and veneers. Kirstyn Russell's photographs can be seen in the background.

Quartz Hill, California. Cut plywood, epoxy, tin can and crystallized salt. 2006.

2006-04-19T09:02:00.000-07:00

Aesthetics of Ecology: Occupying Space for Sustainable Living
November/December 2005
Oliver Art Center, CCA Oakland Campus

My work for this show was constructed entirely of reclaimed materials taken from the Victorian house I am restoring. During the restoration process, I am digging through layers of the history of the house from the original Victorian wallpaper to the extensive wood panelling from the 1960's. The wood panelling and shag carpeting for this show were reconfigured in the studio to reference these histories.

Rec Room Installation, cut wood panelling and shag carpet, 2004.

"Aesthetics of Ecology" examines the global ecological impact of various fabricated and natural materials, and considers the function of the materials in their immediate surroundings. The artists, designers and architects featured in the exhibition draw attention to ways in which everyone affects the environment's capacity to support life. They seek answers to questions such as: What is the meaning of sustainability? What kinds of visionary thinking will lead communities to be in sync with local ecological systems rather than doing further harm to the earth?
The exhibition includes works by Teri Claude Dowling, William and Elizabeth Hathaway, Douglas Jacuzzi, Daniel Krivens, Matthew Laughlin, Anthony Marschak, Gail McDowell, Hector Dio Mendoza, Michele Pred, Wesley Ramirez, Jessica Resmond and John Colle Rogers.
Jurors for the exhibition are Shoshana Berger, founder and editor in chief of ReadyMade magazine, and Erez Steinberg, industrial designer and cofounder of Studio eg.
The exhibition is part of the CCA alumni exhibition series, a project of the CCA Alumni Council that promotes awareness of CCA and its community of artists.

Victorian Ornament, cut wood panelling. 2005.

2006-04-18T16:51:00.000-07:00

Somnambulisms Show at Pigman Gallery with Ellen Babcock
September 2005

Have you ever had a dream where you keep seeing something, it's right in front of you. The story of the dream takes its various turns, but keeps coming back to this object. The thing relates to your dream in some kind of symbolic way. Then you wake up, and that thing from your dream is the thing right in front of you...the coffee cup left on the nightstand, except that it your dream it didn't look like a coffee cup, it looked like a cup you had as a kid, and it seemed very important...

"Somnambulisms" means dreamwalkings. For this show, Ellen Babcock and I reconfigure everyday, domestic materials to create scenes which contain a story, or part of a story, or at least move beyond their humble origins.

Outside the Frame, cut wood panelling, 2005

Drag Dollars Series, embroidered dollar bills, 2001-2005

Intimacies, pantyhose-covered saucers, 2003

Finding Water in the Desert Series, Mom's Liquor and Donuts, cut wood panelling, 2005

Artist's Statement:
Having grown up in the desert of Southern California, the Landscape of the West and the Western style of living is central to my work. My current sculptural work combines a claustrophobic domesticity with an absence of focus, a feeling I remember from the desert, living inside a small cinderblock house, surrounded by the vastness of the landscape.

2006-03-23T16:02:00.000-08:00

Ceramic Sculpture 2002
porcelain pieces, cast from everyday household items.
some have shrinkwrap or artificial hair.

Series of 10 shown at the Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA (2002) in the show "Cool, Calm and Collected"

Also shown along with my queer accessories photographs at the SOMArts Gallery, San Francisco, CA in 2003 in the show "(r)Evolution of Gender"