Maxine Clements is a contemporary artist based in Suffolk, England, who holds a BA in Fine Art from Falmouth College of Art (2006).
Her work is profoundly informed by her dual connection to the English countryside and her childhood in Umbria, Italy, with landscape serving as both a thematic and formal anchor throughout her practice. Clements’ approach to painting is characterised by spontaneity and an interest in the interplay between shape, pattern, and line, often evoking the fluidity of memory, maternal experience, and the visceral impact of illness.
Clements creates visually complex, sculptural spaces that blur the boundaries between abstraction, fantasy, and recollection. Her bold use of color, applied over thin washes of interwoven shapes and lines, builds rich, textured surfaces that reveal layered spaces and light, inviting the viewer to explore both the tangible and intangible aspects of her compositions. The resulting works evoke an ongoing dialogue between surface and depth, form and formlessness, highlighting the emotional and psychological terrain embedded within the materiality of paint.
Throughout her practice, Clements confronts the intersection of physical trauma and emotional resilience, creating a body of work that is both personal and universal in its exploration of human vulnerability and strength.
A central theme in Clements work is the exploration of illness, specifically her experience with breast cancer and the subsequent journey of treatment and recovery. Her paintings serve as both a visual and emotional mapping of the disorienting, surreal states induced by chemotherapy, drawing on the powerful imagery and fragmented sensations she experienced during this time. The drawings she made during her treatment inform much of her current practice, reflecting an inescapable, cyclical experience that she continues to investigate.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 Marshmallow, The Watch House, Orford, Suffolk
2022 BLAZE, The Watch House, Orford, Suffolk
2021 ALBA, North Coast Asylum, Newquay, Cornwall
Curation
2024 MOTHERFATHER, Asylum Studios, Rendlesham, Suffolk
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 14 X 14, Old Theatre, Framlingham, Suffolk
2025 Frinton Stations, Art:Oasis, Frinton-on-Sea, Essex
2024 MOTHERFATHER, Asylum Studios, Rendlesham, Suffolk
2024 For Folk Sake, The Cut, Halesworth, Suffolk
2024 Scrubland, Butley Mills Studio Gallery, Butley, Suffolk
2024 Summer Contemporary, Britten Pears Arts, Snape, Suffolk
2024 Minories Open Exhibition, The Minories, Colchester, Essex
2024 Open Studios, Asylum Studios, Rendlesham, Suffolk
2024 Noon to Moon, Kensington Gardens, First Light Festival, Lowestoft, Suffolk
2024 Unconsumed II, The Shoe Factory, Norwich, Norfolk
2024 FRESH GIGANTIC! Butley Mills Studios Gallery, Butley, Suffolk
2023 The Bakers Dozen, The Watch House, Orford, Suffolk
2023 The Cut Open, The Cut, Halesworth, Suffolk
2023 Distant Lands, with Amy Gladding, 142 Gallery, Felixstowe, Suffolk
2023 A Green Thought In A Green Shade, Art Space, Woodbridge, Suffolk
2023 Coalesce, 142 Gallery, Suffolk
2023 Noon to Moon, Kensington Gardens, First Light Festival, Lowestoft, Suffolk
2023 Unconsumed, The Shoe Factory, Norwich, Norfolk
2022 Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, The Art Station, Saxmundham, Suffolk
2022 Poetry in Aldeburgh Festival, Ballroom Arts, Aldeburgh, Suffolk
2022 FLAGS, The Art Station, Saxmundham, Suffolk
2022 studioUS, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
2021 Group Show, Asylum Studios, Rendlesham, Suffolk
2021 Mesmerism, North Coast Asylum, Newquay, Cornwall
2021 Winter Exhibition, Fairhurst Gallery, Norwich, Norfolk
2021 For Suffolk Sake, The Art Station, Saxmundham, Suffolk
2021 The Merchants Table, Woodbrodge, Suffolk
2021 The Waiting Place, The Art Station, Saxmundham, Suffolk
2020 Landscapes, North Coast Asylum, Newquay, Cornwall