The work of Claire Gavronsky

Artist Claire Gavronsky (b. 1957, Johannesburg) has been my mentor and art teacher since I was 19, and her guidance has deeply shaped my creative practice. Her paintings and sculptures explore themes of memory, trauma, identity, and the complex layers of personal and collective history. Her work consistently reflects connection and resilience, highlighting how shared experiences and mutual support among women foster strength and solidarity. Together with her partner, artist Rose Shakinovsky, their mentorship has been so very meaningful and invaluable to me, and I owe much of the artist I have become to them. They are truly inspirational!

Born in Johannesburg in 1957, Claire Gavronsky has spent her career tracing the fragile threads between history, memory, and human connection. After earning her Master of Fine Arts in 1981, she moved to Florence in 1985, where she continues to live and work - balancing a life between Italy and South Africa, painting and teaching, solitude and collaboration.

Gavronsky’s art is layered and resonant, often blending echoes of classical imagery with contemporary themes. Her paintings and drawings explore how trauma endures - especially the hidden violences faced by women and children - yet they do so with quiet empathy rather than spectacle. In recent years, her focus has turned toward care: the gestures of tenderness, solidarity, and resilience that allow people to endure.

Exhibitions such as Drawn Together (2024) and Women’s Way (2025) reveal this shift. Figures are often depicted in moments of intimacy or support, embodying survival through connection. Her line is both clear and elusive, suggesting that no story is ever singular, that every outline carries many voices.

Collaboration lies at the heart of her practice. Alongside fellow artist Rose Shakinovsky, under the name Rosenclaire, she runs an international residency in Tuscany and workshops across southern Africa, mentoring new generations of artists.

Through all her work, Gavronsky insists on art as an act of attention - a space to remember, to witness, and above all, to care.