Claire Drummond (b. 1993) is the 2025 recipient of the Joseph Plaskett postgraduate award in painting. She works at the intersection of figurative painting and caregiving, with a studio practice based between rural Quebec and Chicago. Drummond completed her MFA at NSCAD University in 2023. Other awards include a Research and Creation grant from Canada Council for the Arts (2025), the Judith Jane Leidl Graduate Fellowship (2023) and the Scotia Scholar’s Award from Research Nova Scotia (2022-2023).
The entanglement of painting and motherhood is the foundation of the artist’s practice — her mother taught her to paint when she was little and subsequently gave up her practice to raise Claire and her sister. Drummond’s paintings aim to confront the persistent idea that one cannot be both an artist and a primary caregiver, and to challenge the belief that art that focuses on maternity and domesticity is aesthetically inferior and politically inconsequential.
Photo credit: Natalie Goulet
