Clare Pattinson

2015 QEST Scholar - Automata & Mechanical Art

Based in Margate, Clare makes automata and mechanical art from salvaged and discarded items collected from her local streets, and found objects washed up from the sea.

Clare’s QEST Scholarship allowed her to develop her work by being given the opportunity to study mechanical engineering, welding and electronics in more depth. With the additional knowledge she plans to make her mechanical structures and automata bigger and more complex, incorporating switches and sensors into her designs to make them multifaceted and interactive on many levels. Clare was also awarded funding to go on a study/research trip to Leipzig (Bimbo Town by Jim Whiting) to observe animatronics, and to spend some time working alongside a UK based automata maker as a short term study apprenticeship.

I am a self taught automata maker. I studied animation, ceramics and illustration at art college. I’m attracted to movement, colour, caricature, mechanics, humour, sculpture and story telling. Automata captures and combines all these skills, resulting in a charming kinetic sculpture that creaks into life. As an avid people watcher, i’m surrounded by an array of interesting characters, allowing me fleeting glimpses into possible stories that I try to capture for a moment in time.