Art Deluxe

A bit of candy, bouquet of flowers, a dash of perfume. Sounds like the ingredients for romance doesn’t it? Or better yet, the ingredients for the art of Clara Hallencreutz

I glimpsed some of her pieces that reference Chanel and quickly got drawn into her world of color, whimsy and surrealism. Her modern pop art inspires questions and exploration through her presentation and title selection.

For instance, by painting a fast food meal in soft pastels and using the title “No Artificial Colours,” Hallencreutz makes the viewer question the ingredients of our food. As a society, we have become accustomed to eating out of boxes and drive-thrus, but do we really ever know what we’re eating? With appealing packaging and convenience, we often fail to stop and consider the artificial components of what we put in our bodies.
The series also includes painted roses. With roses as a symbol of love, it makes you wonder, is love sometimes artificial with a layer covering the true form that lies beneath it?

Hallencreutz seems to have a thing for Chanel, but who doesn’t? Her “Smell Deluxe” series is a pretty presentation of flowers in the shape of the iconic logo…perhaps the flowers that inspire the perfumes? 
Her Chanel inspiration continues with the “Taste Deluxe” series, which uses the branded black and white pairing with ice cream and cupcakes. The juxtaposition of sweets and the luxury of the Chanel brand hints at the taste of luxury, suggesting a new Chanel bag is as sweet as an ice cream cone.


The “Candy Crush” collection continues the use of sweet imagery, but in shapes like that of a grenade. Perhaps an ode to the explosive nature of having a new crush?

Regardless of how you interpret her work, you can’t help but get lost in the colorfully sweet world Hallencreutz creates.