Skirts, by artist Clare Strand, features monochrome photographs of tables dressed with pleated cloths as if they were skirts. Simple, witty and intriguing each of the portraits show an empty clothed table standing in front of a curtain. Playing with both social and photographic conventions, Strand hints at what may be concealed yet never revealed in these photographs.

Consistently working in black and white, Strand employs photography, video and installation. Using utilitarian imagery her work connects with themes such as the paranormal, the magical, and the humorous whilst exploring how the photographic image can escape meaning and understanding. Her projects have explored photographic genres from Victorian portraiture to crime scene and forensic photography, primarily influenced by her collections of catalogues, scrapbooks and literary texts.

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Clare Strand (1973) was born in Sevenoaks, Kent and currently lives and works in Brighton. Her first monograph was published by Steidl and Partners in 2009 and her third monograph ‘Snake’ was published by MACK in 2017. She has exhibited at venues including Tate Britain, London; The Hassleblad Center, Gothenburg; The Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Huis Marseille, Amsterdam; Teatro Fernan-Gomez Arts Center, Madrid; The Photographers gallery, London; The Courtauld Institute, London and at Les Rencontres d’Arles, France 2013.

Strand’s work is held in the collections of The British Council, National Media Museum; Victoria Albert Museum, Arts Council of England, New York Public Library, Centré Pompidou, MoMA and The Unicredit Bank, as well as private collections.