Livia Claesson: ‘Every artist is part of a legacy’

Currently, Livia is temporarily living in Luxembourg, but she would very much like to come back to the Netherlands: “It is where my network is right now.” She is convinced that, by comparison, the Netherlands are actually not doing so badly as an art country, even though the Dutch complain. “I acknowledge the present precarity of the cultural sector in the Netherlands – these are certainly not easy times, but the struggles the Netherlands feel, are felt elsewhere as well.” As a child, she explains, she always had a sketchbook around her. “It was obvious that I would go to art school. Up to that time, I was basically self-taught, but I was interested in getting better and challenging myself. The Academy gave me the opportunity to explore other techniques and media.”

Airbrush

“Airbrush really is my medium,” says Livia. “I’m a 2D artist, for sure, but I like how airbrush enables me to mimic 3D. My airbrush is my baby. I clean it all the time. Maintenance is the thing.” She is not really attracted to digital art. “I have dabbled in digital illustration to broaden my professional scope, but the hand-made will always be at the centre of my interest and execution. I have such a love for the hand-made thing, for what’s tactile. I also like being impressed by technique, the skill of the maker.” Because the airbrush is such a high-maintenance, sensitive tool, it can also be a source of frustration. But according to Livia frustration is part of the game – no art without inner strife. “Making art can be a roller coaster of emotions”, she says, “but we must love it because we keep doing it.” Packing her boxes upon leaving Maastricht also made her aware of her dependency on her materials. “I’m dragging my boxes everywhere. I need them so I have to find a place to put them in. One of my fellow students used to say that your materials own you.”

In awe of children

Much of Livia’s work centres around matters of childhood and adulthood. “It more or less started at the time of my graduation show, when you are thinking a lot about your artistic identity. I always had an interest in child psychology and I also found I was sort of jealous of children, in awe of how they are able to do things without hesitation.” At the time she phrased it like this: “Kids are taught and nurtured into becoming adults: well-rounded, disciplined, mannered and composed […] Playfulness gets replaced by obligations; impulsiveness by thorough analysis. Is play something that must be lost or is there a way for a symbiosis between the child and the adult?” The fascination never left her. “Juxtaposing childhood and adulthood is interesting. Childhood is not the better state of the two, but it should definitely be taken seriously. My use of childhood motifs may be crass, but it’s also funny. I like playing with the honesty and spontaneity of children and the overthinking of adults. It’s overlaying everything and allows me to express and deal with the things I’m concerned about.”

Conversations

Livia finds she could not do without talking to others about art and the creative process.“Studio life can be so solitary”, she says. “I have to speak otherwise I would go crazy.” Her idea of ‘conversations about art’, reflecting and brainstorming with others, is actually also very much part of her thoughts about the future. “Teaching would be very attractive to me”, she says. “As a teacher you would be able to work with people interested in the sector, while continuing your own practice.” If she won the Piket Art Prize in her category, she would definitely invest it in her practice. For now she is actively trying to find a job.

Photo: Eliza-Sophie Sekrève
Text: Anna Beerens