Bridge is a figurative realist artist, her sensual and at times erotic paintings evoking a beauty and disquiet that invites a deeper contemplation beyond the painted surface and first reading of the work. Her art explores our connectedness, the invisible and visible entanglements between each other and between humanity and the natural world. Bridge’s recent works traverse contemporary concerns such as climate change and rapid species decline, yet also return constantly to the universal, our yearnings, sorrows, love, impermanence and death through allegorical and symbolic imagery. The subtle nuances of our daily lives, captured in poignant and intimate moments, reveal Bridge’s fascination with our shared experience and at its core the essence of the human condition. Bridge is interested not just in creating images but in the process of the transmission of Presence through her works. Her focus is on the feeling the painting evokes in the viewer. In 2011, Bridge was a finalist in the prestigious Sulman Prize, has previously twice been selected as a finalist in Australia’s richest art prize, the $150,000 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, won the People’s Choice Award in both the Portia Geach Portrait Prize and Stan and Maureen Duke Prize’s, the latter for which she also won the Living Art award in 2009. Her work is held in public and private collections internationally. Currently living in Melbourne, Australia, Bridge is represented by Tim Olsen Gallery (SYD) Flinders Lane Gallery (MELB) and Anthea Polson Art (QLD). In 2011, Claire Bridge has been appointed to the role of Visual Arts Advisor for the Cultural Committee of the American Australian Association.