I’m Harley Claes: a multidisciplinary writer, artist, musician, maker, and inventor of strange little worlds. My work moves between fiction, essays, poetry, collage, and whatever other mediums happen to express my mind best. At the center of all my work rests the same motive: to turn inner life into something one can explore.

My work orbits themes such as personal mythology, artistic rebellion, psychology, forgotten eras, symbolism, mysticism, and all the ways a person can construct meaning from miscellaneous fragments of a life. Much of my work exists somewhere between a digital garden, a junk journal, a private mythology, and an archaeological excavation of the imagination.

My portfolio is an archive of my ongoing creative universe. If you just arrived, on this page I gathered a few places where you can begin to explore my body of work.

Books are where many of my inner worlds become fully inhabitable.
Some are psychological landscapes, while others are love stories, or collaged and surreal artifacts. They are arranged more as though they were recovered from another universe than most conventional books. I have also written 3 full length fiction novels that are still unpublished, but I plan to introduce and explore them on this portfolio in the future.

Goddess of Nothing
A dark, confessional, and literary poetry collection that touches upon themes of selfhood and reinvention, romantic hunger, trauma, and emotional annihilation. It explores the body as both a temple and a commodity, and mythologizes the artist into a kind of doomed prophet.

Surreal Dollhouse: Junk Journal Poetry
100 pages of collaged pages and surreal poetry, Surreal Dollhouse Poems is a deep dive into the subconscious of an anachronistic voyager, toying with word play and the vintage kitsch- shabby chic aesthetic.

Hedonists Heaven: Poetry Collection
Captures the world of the underground as seen in punk houses, homeless ventures, erotic experiences and sex work. With 68 uncensored poems, the text has a backdrop of images from cult classics like Harmony Korine, Larry Clark, and other iconic directors, as well as photography by Sicily Townley and classic pulp cover visuals.

→ Wander Through All of My Published Books

My journals are esoteric laboratories. They are the evidence of whatever my mind was trying to understand at the time, and my collages are the visual enviornments of different states of consciousness. Alongside these, I draw visual art that is both vibrant, kitsch, and surreal.

All together I collect language, ephemera, scraps, poetry, and visual fragments - then allow them to collide.

Visual Journals Archive

Collages Archive

Visual Art Archive

I also love making worlds that I can hold within my hands. My terrariums are tiny ecosystems assembled from dried flowers, moss, stones, shells, found objects, and botanical remnants — they are miniature landscapes made within the ruins of my art studio. They serve as reminders that worldbuilding doesn't have to be confined to the page.

→ Explore my Terrariums