About

Clara Schmitt is a French-American sculptor based in Seattle, Washington. Working in clay, she transforms figures modeled from life into sculptures that hold multiple presences within a single piece.

Each sculpture begins with a live model. Rather than treating the initial modeled figure as a finished work, she uses it as the starting point for an ongoing process of transformation. Through molds, she reproduces, fragments, and recombines observed forms, building complex structures through accumulation and rearrangement.

Her sculptures move between figuration and abstraction. Fragments of anatomical forms emerge and disappear, shifting between the familiar and shapes that resist immediate recognition. The figure remains present, but no longer settles into a single, unified body. She seeks to move beyond a single gesture or expression, giving form to the multitudes we hold.

Born and raised in Paris, France, Schmitt trained at the Magrath Sculpture Atelier at Gage Academy of Art in Seattle, where she now teaches sculpture.