Clare Jaque Vasquez
Clare Jaque Vasquez
The silence beneath
Acrylic and impasto on stretched canvas, 90 x 90 cm, 2025.
The silence beneath is part of Clare Jaque Vasquez’s recent series of paintings, Skyland. This body of work is anchored in the belief that the sky is more than atmosphere; it is a sacred expanse carrying memory, seasonal knowledge, and generational dialogue. Vasquez’s deep personal connection to her grandmother, who taught her to read the sky’s colour and movement, shapes her approach to painting as a slow, tactile process rooted in care, observation, and reverence. Textural layers, inspired by her grandmother’s woven bag, are wrapped over the work to create protective surfaces that reflect both the fragility of memory and the enduring strength of matriarchal lines.
Clare Jaque Vasquez is represented by Vivien Anderson Gallery (Naarm/Melbourne).
Clare Jaque Vasquez is an emerging Aboriginal artist from Gomeroi/Kamilaroi nation. Clare grew up in both an urban environment in her younger years and then on her Grandmother’s Country in north west New South Wales in a small country town near the mission and station where her family lived. Clare’s art gently showcases unique memories and moments from being raised with three generations of Gomeroi/Kamilaroi women under the one roof navigating the after effects of change.
Clare’s work capture stories and weaving practices in a raised textural form leveraging natural and contemporary art tools to apply texture. These tools include different natural brushes, branches, sticks and her fingertips, which are specifically used to connect the works with Country and self. Clare works in layers to uniquely apply acrylic paint and impasto mediums which appear to be etched, embedded and scarred onto the canvas.