The Lioness The Potion and The Wardrobe
Ishmael Claxton
Self-Published
English
Softcover
Edition of 50
Signed
includes two limited edition signed posters
22 pages
195 x 280 mm
2025
In the depths of the COVID-19 lockdown, two friends embarked on a collaborative creative experience within the sanctuary of Cliona’s home. Amidst conversations and drinks, Ishmael Claxton captured portraits of his muse Cliona Buckley, referred to as “the lioness,” as she paraded her fantastic wardrobe. The series of photographs that emerged explores identity and expression with playful, beautiful, and sensitive touches. We are invited to question where the edges of the self end and the external world begins. As we witness a feisty, beautiful woman shape-shift and dance through various constructed identities and spirits, we see paradoxes of creative expression play out. The curated and invented can be the most revealing, radically honest communication, and to lean into the human form as an object to be adorned is to fully embody the self as an expansive, energetic being.
‘The Lioness, The Potion, and The Wardrobe’ investigates the worlds we can create within the chambers of our experience and the portal into meaning that is creative expression. To be an artist is to allow your soul to show itself beyond the limits of your body. When we are lucky enough to be invited into someone’s home, heart, and imagination, fantastic beauty is revealed. All shots were done using various film stocks, adding a tactile, nostalgic quality to the exploration. This series encapsulates the essence of collaborative creativity during a time of isolation, highlighting how friendships can yield profound artistic revelations. Through Claxton’s lens, the lioness’s transformations reveal the power of personal expression and the boundless nature of identity within the confines of our immediate surroundings.
(Source: https://shop.photomuseumireland.ie/products/the-lioness-the-potion-and-the-wardrobe)
About the Artist
Ishmael Claxton is an award winning Dublin based fine artist and photographer. He’s lived and worked in New York City, Morocco, the Caribbean, Berlin and Paris, picking up styles and inspiration along the way, to create pieces centred around a key concern in his work: connection. Ishmael’s photography uses a pastiche of different artistic styles, such as Italian Futurism, surrealism, and Afro-Futurist imaginaries to make his work an outlet for political expression, often touching on themes of race, gender, and class
https://ishmaelclaxton.com/
(Source: https://districtmagazine.ie/art-and-design/artist-spotlight-ishmael-claxton/)
