Claire McCarthy is an artist, poet, and general oddball based in Chicago. Encouraged to be creative from an early age and allowed to attend art school, she has dabbled in many mediums, from sewing and photography to cartooning and woodblock printing. Perhaps because of this dabbling, her current work often incorporates some combination of textiles, photos, words, and the occasional found object. With the desire to convey a mood and a message, her pieces consider color, texture, and composition—weaving each element together to tell a story.

Claire can often be found taking pictures of garbage, petting strangers’ dogs, or looking at vegetarian cookbooks, and then never making any of the recipes.