Claudia Comte
Born in 1983.
Claudia Comte is an artist based in Basel. Trained at the École cantonale d’art de Lausanne (ECAL) from 2004 to 2007, her work demonstrates an interest in biomorphic forms and the memory of materials. Her practice combines site-specific installations, painting, and sculpture, and is based on a personal “system of rules-measures” that places the works in relation to one another.
She became known for wooden sculptures carved with a chainsaw and subsequently reworked by hand, often incorporated into installations accompanied by geometric wall paintings.
From 2018 onwards, her work has shown an increasing engagement with issues related to marine ecology. As part of a residency and commission developed with TBA21–Academy, she produced The Cacti Series in 2019, a group of reinforced-concrete sculptures installed on the seabed of the East Portland Fish Sanctuary to serve as a substrate for coral growth. In a different material register, Five Marble Leaves (2022) is a public installation composed of Carrara marble leaves, presented at Central Wharf Park, Boston.
Her participations include How to Grow and Still Stay the Same Shape at Castello di Rivoli (2019), After Nature at the Museo Nacional Thyssen‑Bornemisza (2021), and Desert X AlUla (2022). Her collaborations with organisations active in marine conservation include residencies and expeditions undertaken with TBA21–Academy, as well as projects intended to raise awareness of coral health. The sources consulted indicate that works by Comte are held in public collections such as MoMA (New York), Kunstmuseum Luzern, and ETH Zurich.
Her method brings together artisanal processes and the use of industrial and mechanical technologies, according to the accounts documenting her projects. The recurring use of diverse materials—hand-worked wood, reinforced concrete intended for the marine environment, and Carrara marble for public works—illustrates the way in which form and material structure her practice.
